Someday
by Maxy93
Summary: Nothing will be the same anymore. The past my be gone, but gone is not forgotten. Something is hiding in the Helmsley-Michaels household that threatens all they hold dear.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, hello! The first Chapter of Somebody is now up.

**A few things: **As of right now, there will be no flashbacks, but that may change as the story progresses.

Also, **A New Day** was about 15 pages shorter than **Piper**; I don't want **Somebody** to be shorter than 86 pages, which is how long **A New Day** was, so this will be a longer story. But that might mean a bit of a wait between chapters. I already had **Piper** totally written before I posted it, and I had **A New Day** half way written. **Somebody** is being made on the spot. I'll try to take no longer than a week between updates, but we all know life happens.

Also, I have very limited exposure to both alcohol and the law, so, some of what I write will be what I look up and some of it will be me guessing and twisting things to work how I want them, I shall show all my poetic license if they ask :]

**Disclaimer: ** I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to Nat-Nat 360, Clayhammer1000, Sonib89, and TheVampireLucinda for the reviews. On my past stories, and I hope to keep hearing from you all! I love hearing from you, your comments always make me laugh and feel reassured about writing. Okay, enough jabbering and on to yet another sequel! **

**P.S. TheVampireLucinda, I love that you're reviewing Piper for me! Even though it's been up forever, but it was a fun surprise for me to discover when I got home. Glad you like it that you're reading it at work, my boss would kill me if I read FF at work, lol.**


	2. One: Secrets

Shawn's PoV

"You wanna know something Hunter; I really hate moving, it is, without a doubt, the worst thing ever." I complain as I carry in another stack of boxes all marked _stuff_. I was never letting Hunter label the boxes again.

"Its not that bad Shawn, it could be worse, we could be moving across the state not just to another street."

"I know, but I still hate it. Where's Piper?"

"Up there somewhere," he said pointing up the stairs, "with Mark and Jeff, they're putting her bed together." I set the boxes down and pop my back before I feel a pair of hands rubbing my sore body.

"Go sit down and drink some water, I can go get the rest, there isn't much left."

"The rest goes in our room; it's our bed and dresser stuff."

"At least we already got all the clothes and crap brought here a head of time."

"I'm never moving again, you know that right?"

"I do, and speaking of 'I do's, only two weeks and we'll be saying that to each other."

"For the second time, but maybe this time we won't have a curtain catch on fire."

"But that was fun; I've never seen something light up that fast."

"But I don't want to see it on my wedding day." I say as I give him a quick kiss and grab his hand. "Come on, lets get the rest of the junk in and we can rest."

{Later That Night}

The living room, kitchen, and dinning room were all unpacked, Hunter was helping Piper get the rest of her stuff set up and I was downstairs cooking dinner. These past three months had been one hell of a ride. Once Hunter and I got back together it was like life was a rollercoaster, it took a long time for us to get back to where we had been, we both had had harsh and hurt feelings towards each other, but we each held them back out of fear of ruining what we had tried so hard to get back, but that was not the best idea we had. We kept it all in until one night we let it all out and we didn't speak to each other for a week. But we eventually got over that and the relationship became even stronger.

One night when it was just the three of us, Hunter got down on his knee and pulled out my old wedding ring and he asked me to marry him. when I asked him why he was using my wedding ring and not my engagement ring he said, "Shawn, our first trip ended in disaster, but the disaster is what brought us to this point, even though we want too, we cant burry the past, so lets embrace it, this ring is a symbol of all we have been through, it's a promise for a better future. Will you please say yes, Shawn, please say you'll marry me." I loved thinking back to that night, that was the night I stopped trying to hide from the past, as much as I hated it, I had to accept it.

I finished stirring the spaghetti, and I pulled out three paper plates and some plastic forks, I refused to do dishes our first night here, but then I remembered I had to the, oh well. "Hunter, Piper, dinner." I heard fast footsteps and a loud shriek, I went around the corner and saw Hunter holding Piper in the air off the side of the railing, and he was dangling Piper in the air over our living room. "Hunter Hurst Helmsley, you set her down this instant!"

"I don't think you want me to let go of her Shawn."

"You know what I mean you buffoon, now."

"You daddy is grumpy you know that?" he says to Piper as he sets her on the stair case and she runs down them, and stops right in front of me and looks up at me, a huge smile on her face.

"Dada that was fun, I like when daddy plays with me, he hasn't done it in a long time." I bend down and say,

"I know, but dinner is ready and it's getting cold." I kiss her nose and ruffle her hair, she squeals and runs off, she thinks she's getting to old for my kisses. I stand up and get a huge, heavy arm draped around my shoulders. "You know, one day she is going to be too big to do that right?"

"And that is exactly why you should let me do it while I can." He says as he pulls me closer to him. "I'm so excited that we're gonna be sleeping in the same bed again, I've missed you so much Shawn."

"I've missed you too, I can't wait to-," *crash*

"Daddy! Help!" I shake my head and push Hunter towards the kitchen.

"You go help your daughter; I'll be there in a sec."

"You okay?"

"Ya, just gotta use the bathroom, be right back." I turned and walked up the stairs, but I bypassed the bathroom and went to our box covered room, I looked around until I found a box marked _Shawn random_. I opened it up, dug around until I found what I was looking for. I unscrewed the lid of the bottle half filled with clear liquid, and I took along drink out of it. I breathed as the burning feeling went down my throat into my stomach before I repeated the action two more times. I put the lid back on, hide the bottle at the bottom of the box, close it up, and set a few other boxes on top of it. I walk into the bathroom and brush my teeth, needed to get the smell gone before I went back downstairs.

I walk into the dinning room with my plate and I set down next to Hunter and we eat and talk about the day. When the meal is done I look at the clock, with all we had to do today we eat late, it was about 8:30pm. I stood up and as I walked into the kitchen to clean the one dish I dirtied I told Piper to go upstairs and take a bath and then we would be up there to tuck her in. she kissed us both and ran up the stairs. When Hunter and I had first gotten back together she had been very reluctant to except it, but as time went by and she saw that things were going to be different this time, she became as happy as she was before everything had gone wrong.

I just put the one pan under the stove where it belonged just as Hunter came back in from taking the trash out. I wiped down the counter as he came and stood behind me. "You ready for bed?"

"Ya, I just have to-,"

"You just have to do nothing, we've been moving and unpacking all day, we can finish tomorrow, I wanna tuck our baby in and then I wanna spend some special time with _my_ baby." I smile and gently press myself back against him before I suddenly nudge him away from me and I spin around.

"What makes you think I wanna spend any time with you, you smell like sweat."

"I didn't have time to shower like you sir, and with you acting like that maybe I wont shower ever again." He says crossing his arms, a challenging smirk crossing his face. I raise an eyebrow at him and I cross my arms as well.

"Oh I think you want to shower, you see," I say as I walk towards him very slowly and walk around him, my hands trailing from his chest, down his arm, to his back. "I may have a little surprise for you, but I don't give surprises to dirty men." But before I can do anything he spins around and traps me in his arms.

"Actually Shawn, I think you love giving dirty men surprises." I just smile up at him before he lowers his head a kisses me. "But you win, lets go tuck her in and I'll shower, deal."

"Deal." I say as I press my lips to his again.

We head upstairs and discover Piper is still in the bathroom so Hunter I go into our room and start unpacking our stuff. I find the bed sheets and put them on the bed as he sets up the TV and the bedside lamps, breaking down the boxes and stacking them up on the top shelf in the closet. While he wasn't looking I kick my box over to my side of the bed. We stop what we're doing when we hear the bathroom door open. Hunter goes to the door and he says, "You brush your teeth?"

"Yes daddy, you guys come tuck me in." I smile and we both walk down the hall into her new room. Mark and Jeff did a good job setting this place up. She jumps into bed, Baba, her tattered penguin tight in her arms; I sit on the edge of the bed and tuck the blankets around her as Hunter bends down, his knees cracking with the motion. "You like your new room baby?" I ask as I turn off her lap, her nightlight casting a glow over the room.

"It's okay, I'm just glad it's the three of us again."

"Us too baby. You think you can go to sleep?" Hunter asks as he rubs her hair away from her forehead.

"I love you." she says as she holds her hands out to Hunter, he wraps his big arms around her, and I love to watch these moments between the two of them.

"I love you too Piper, sweet dreams." He says as he releases her and kisses her on the cheek then he stands up and leaves the room, he better be getting in the shower.

"I'm happy we're all together again dada."

"I know, and I am too."

"Is he gonna hurt you again?" I give her a smile and tell her to scoot over, and I lie down beside her and wrap my arms around her tiny body.

"I know these last few months have been hard Piper, and I'm so sorry. We promised you we would keep you safe, we didn't keep that promise very well last time. But we will this time, I swear to you with all that I am, nothing is going to tare us apart again. Do you believe that?" She just nodded and then gave a big yawn. "I know a little girl who's sleepy." I say as I gently get off the bed. I retuck in the covers and kiss her on the forehead. "I love you Piper, sleep tight."

"Night daddy, I love you too." I walk towards the door and I just stand there and watch her cuddle under the covers even more and fall asleep. Hunter gently took a hold of my hand and led me away from the doorway and he closed the door.

"I'm gonna go shower, and you better have my surprise." I just shake my head at him and push him towards the bathroom door.

Once I hear the shower running I go back to our room and I go to the box and take the bottle out, I take a few drinks then stash it, and the other bottle I had, at the bottom of a cedar chest at the back of our closet that had nothing but extra linins in it. I unpack a few more boxes until Hunter comes back in wrapped in a towel. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth a few times, I would die if he found out what I had been doing. I use some mouthwash then go back to our room. He's already in his sweat pants on the bed, the only light on is the bedside lamp on his side. I just roll my eyes, put my pajamas on, then I get into bed beside him and we both enjoy our first night in our new house, as well as our first night since we had gotten back together.

There it is, Chapter 1: Secrets. Hope everyone liked it. Please Review, you all know how much I love them!


	3. Two: Served

Hello, hello! Chapter Two (c:

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

Special thanks to KKStJimmy, Clayhammer1000, Sonib89, and TheVampireLucinda for the AMAZING reviews, and to all the people who added the story to the alert list!

**Note: **I know nothing about how the law actually works, so some of what I use will be a mix of what I actually looked up and how I made things work for the story. **Also**, I know that Shawn's bad, bad habit is being constantly mentioned, but it is important for the story.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review C:

{A Week Later}

It was finally time to go back to work, we were all sitting in the living room waiting for our bus to show up, we were going on a month long cross-continent tour starting in Canada and ending in Mexico, it was going to be a busy tour, multiple shows, photo shoots, signings, the works. Since it is going to be such a long trip, Vince gave us all some buses and let us choose who we rode with, our bus consisted of Me, Hunter, Piper, Randy, John, and Josh. We tried to get Mark, but when I told him I was back with Hunter he flipped out on me and didn't talk to us for weeks, the only reason he comes around anymore is to see Piper. Piper was in the den doing something on the computer and Hunter and I were on the couch, his arm around my shoulders as we watched TV.

"How are you feeling about being back on the road again?"

"I'm very excited, I'm ready to get back to work, just sitting around home is boring."

"I enjoyed the break, I got to sleep till noon everyday, it was great."

"You should just retire, move next to a pizza place and a gym and you would have it made."

"I would, but you said you didn't want to move again, plus you complained about my mad labeling skills."

"Oh ya, your mad skills gave us 25 boxes labeled _stuff_." I say as I remove his arm and stand up. I pop my back and as I make my way towards the living room door he says,

"Where you going?"

"Bathroom."

"There is one on the bus."

"I hate using the one on the bus; it's like peeing in the backseat of a prius." I say as I leave the room and head up the stairs and repeat what I've done everyday for the past month and a half, sneaking a few shots of my favorite drink.

After I brushed my teeth I went back downstairs and I was in the kitchen drinking a glass of water when the bus pulled up outside the house, I didn't have to say anything because Piper yelled through the house, "The bus is here!" I turn around when I hear her running past the kitchen to the door. I put the glass of water in the sink, and I go into the hallway and I watch Piper run to the bus and get hugs from John and Randy. When Josh gets off the bus I see they are about to start playing so I shout "Hey, don't start anything, all we're doing is loading the bags and we have to go, Piper, come get your bag please." Piper gives Josh a push and runs off before he can return one, John follows her into the house while I grab one of the bags and Hunter grabs another one. "Hey guys, ready to get this bad moving?"

"Here," I say as I shove a few bags into his hand, "Thanks, and yes we are. Piper, do you have everything?"

"Yes daddy! You already checked like a zillion times."

"Okay, to the bus, Hunter are you locking up?" I say as John and Piper take off across the lawn, John shouting at Josh telling him to get back on the bus.

"I am, you go ahead, I'll be right there." Hunter says as he punches in the code for our alarm system and I head out to the bus.

When I step on the bus I see Jerry Steven in the driver seat, he's been a driver for the company for fifteen years. "Hey Jerry, how'd you get lucky enough to drive our bus?" I say as I step on, he smiles and shake my hand and say,

"It was either you guys or deal with the divas, so I would rather have an entreating headache instead of a headache from the hairspray cause a hole in the ozone."

"Glad you're here, at least you can drive, Matt has no idea." I walk past him and head to the back of the bus where the beds are. But I get intercepted by a tan, tattooed wall. "Hey Randy."

"Hey, your guy's bed is on the left, the mattress lifts up and there is a self above it for your junk, Josh and Piper get the couch and the table breaks down too."

"The beds are actually big enough for two people?" I say as I squeeze past him so I can put the bags down.

"Yea, Hunter won't get stuck this time; he needs to loose some of that muscle mass."

"Please," I say as I stash my two bags under the mattress, "John," I yell and he pops his head around the door.

"You bellowed?"

"The bags I gave you, where are they?"

"On the table."

"Can you bring them here?" he walks off, I continue talking to Randy as John drops the bags on the floor by my feet. I pull out the sheets and pillows, fixing the bed up. "As I was saying, the only way Hunter will loose his muscles is if he died, or lost all his limbs."

"And we all know that will never happen." Hunter says as he squeezes his huge form into the already cramped room, it's a good thing he is taller than me so all he had to do was reach over me to put his bags on the shelf. "Bed beds are bigger."

"Why do you think we were talking about your largess?" Randy says as he sits on the other bed, giving Hunter and I more room to move around.

"Cause you're both jealous of my amazing muscles." He moves to leave the room; I poke his shoulder before he gets out of the room.

"I am not your maid and you are not keeping us all up tonight, so you are going to unpack right now."

"You are so bossy." He says as he pushes me on the bed and before I can get up he puts his bags on the bed, trapping me against the wall. Randy hops off the bed and as he walks away he says, very loudly so we can hear. "Don't go back there, Hunter has Shawn trapped on the bed."

"Shut up you ass!" I shout after him.

"Are you all ready to hit the road?" I hear Jerry's voice sound through the bus. I hear a chorus of "yes" but I don't hear Piper's voice at all.

"Hey guys, is Piper on the bus?"

"Yes she's here, her and Josh found the TV already."

"Then tell Jerry we are all ready to go!"

We were all very glad this tour was starting in Mexico and ending in Canada because that meant our bus was the first on at the hotel in Mexico and that was a good thing because our bus got the best parking spot, we didn't have to make sprints to the front desk so we could all fit on the elevator, and best of all, we could sit in the lobby and annoy our fellow co-workers. We all got checked in and I took Piper downstairs because she really wanted to see Mark. I hated that he was so mad about what was going on, he just couldn't understand how I could go back to him. I was sitting in a chair; in the text he sent me he said there bus was a few miles from the hotel. Piper was standing in front of me bouncing around, any chance she got to spend with Mark made her happy, she noticed that Mark wasn't around as much, we simply told her it had to do with the move, which wasn't exactly a lie, Mark was pretty pissed when I said Hunter and I were moving in together. "Piper, calm down, he'll get here when he gets here." I say as I grab her arm and puller her on my lap.

"I know dada, but I haven't seen him in weeks."

"You saw him last week."

"I used to see him, like, everyday! I miss him." and she turned her bright green eyes back towards the door. I took this chance to fix her hair again, Hunter and I always had to re-fix her hair, if we put it up in anything, even a simple ponytail, she always managed to mess it up. I had just put the last butterfly clip in when Mark walked in.

"Uncle Mark!" she yells as she jumps off my lap and runs towards him, Mark drops his bags and grabs her, spinning her up into the air, a huge smile on his face. I can't really hear what he's saying to her, but I can tell by the huge smile on his face that he is happy to see her. I stand up and walk over to them and I see Jeff, Matt, Glenn, Kofi, and Evan walk in the door, I guess they were on one of the bigger buses. Matt goes to the desk to check in and Jeff walks over to me.

"Hey man." He stands in front of me and shakes my hand, "Gotta question for ya?"

"Sure, what?"

"Me and the guys were wondering if Piper could stay with us tonight, we really wanna spend time with her."

"You guys or Mark?" Jeff's face suddenly took on a guilty look.

"Come on Shawn, he's just-,"

"He's just being an ass." I say as I brush past Jeff, I pull out my phone and call Hunter, telling him to come down to the lobby. It doesn't take him too long to get there, once I see him by the elevator I walk up to Mark. "Piper, daddy is by the elevator, Uncle Mark and I need to talk."

"But daddy!" before I can tell her to go Mark interrupts me.

"Hey, you don't arguer with your father. We'll hang out together later, I promise." He kisses her nose and sets her on the floor. I watched her as she went over to where Hunter was waiting for her. Once they were back on the elevator I turned and looked at Mark.

"We have something to discuss." Mark rolls his eyes and picks his bags up.

"We have nothing to discuss, you made your decision, and I'm making mine." He tries to walk away but I grab his arm and stop him from walking away.

"You cannot have a relationship with my daughter and hate her parents. We went down this road once before and it almost destroyed her relationship with Hunter."

"No, Hunter almost destroyed his relationship; I was the one who was keeping her safe."

"And you don't have to do that anymore, she doesn't need you to protect her anymore." He steps closer to me and locks his eyes with mine.

"She will _always_ need me to protect her." with that he walked away, following Glenn to the elevator, leaving me standing there seething at his words and actions. I take a deep breath and walk to the hotel bar.

I stick my head into the room, making sure none of the guys were there, and that the bartender was right where I needed him. I walk to the bar and sit down, I order a shot of whiskey, down it, and ask for two more. I quickly down those, pay the bartender, and get on the elevator and go back to the room, shoving a few pieces of gum in my mouth on my way up.

I opened the door and I froze in the hallway when I saw Hunter sitting on the bed with his hair in several different ponytails in several different positions. He looked absolutely ridiculous. I walk in and close the door and reach into my pocket to get my cell phone.

"Shawn, if you take a picture of me I swear I will take your phone and smash it." He says giving me a threatening look just as Piper came back into the room from the bathroom.

"Hi dada, daddy and me-,"

"Daddy and I Piper." I say as I sit down on the couch.

"Daddy and I are playing hair, doesn't he look pretty?" she asks with a huge smile on her face.

"I think you made daddy look beautiful, I'm gonna take a picture of it and you can keep it forever." I say as I give Hunter and evil smirk, but Piper's face lights up.

"Wait, I have to do a few more things." She says as she places a few more random ponytails in what was left of hair, she put a few barrettes and a few glitter clips before she turned to me and said I could take the picture. I stand up and stand in front of him; I point the phone at him and say "Smile." He just glares at me, but I snap the picture anyway.

I send the picture to John before I save it multiple times in case Hunter got a hold of my phone. I sit back down on the couch and watch as Piper takes all the stuff out of Hunter's hair. "I had fun daddy, I love playing with your hair, it's easier than dada's." she says as she pulls the last band from his hair. Hunter reaches behind her and pulls her onto his lap.

"That's because daddy has way better hair than dada." He says as his kisses her then stand up and drops her on my lap. "I don't know about you guys but I want to order a pizza and enjoy tonight, because tomorrow our life is getting busy." He reaches for the restaurant guide and sits down next me Piper and I and we contemplate what we are going to order.

We placed the order for a pizza and we were all sitting on the couch watching TV. About twenty minutes passed since we placed the order and there was a knock at the door, Hunter got up and grabbed his wallet as he opened the door, but instead of pizza, it was a guy in a suit. "Hunter Helmsley or Shawn Michaels?"

"Hunter, who are you?"

"Is Mr. Michaels here?" I stand up and stand beside Hunter.

"I'm Shawn." I say with a confused look.

"You both have been served." He says as he hands Hunter and I both a letter. The man then turns and heads back down the hall. Hunter and I look at the letters then back at each other, looking more confused than we did before.

"Is that pizza?" Piper asks as she leans over the couch to see what was taking so long, I stick the letter in my pocket and Hunter closes the door.

"No baby, somebody had the wrong room." I pick her up and walk her towards the other room of the suit where the king sized bed was. "You wanna watch TV in here, daddy and I are gonna watch football on TV."

"Football is gross, I'll stay in here." I drop her on the bed, she giggles as she bounces, I turn the TV on, flip it to some cartoons and go back into the living room where Hunter is reading whatever was in that letter. I pull mine out, rip the letter open, and as I read the letter inside I feel my blood boil and my heart drop into my chest. I look up from the letter and into Hunter's panicked eyes. "Please tell me yours doesn't say the same thing." I say to him as he sits down on the couch and looks up at me. "Are we really being taken into a custody battle by your ex-girlfriend?" I shout at him, wanting to rip the letter up into little pieces.

"Shawn, I had no idea she would do this, or that it was even possible."

"She is our daughter, and I will kill that bitch before she even gets to lay a finger on her." I say as I toss the letter on the floor and go back into the bedroom and hug my daughter as Hunter answers the door for what better be the damn pizza.


	4. Three: Flights and Fights

Hello, hello! Chapter Three, hope everyone is like it and enjoying the Stephanie bomb! lol

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

Special thanks to: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, Dark-Nights-Bring-Darker-Days and Paula-may for the great reviews, and to all the people who added the story to the alert list!

**Note: **I know nothing about how the law actually works, so some of what I use will be a mix of what I actually looked up and how I made things work for the story. **Also**, I know that Shawn's bad, bad habit is being constantly mentioned, but it is important for the story. **Also again, **I don't have anyone to proof read this for me, and sometimes I catch the spelling and grammar problems, sometimes I don't. Nobody has said anything and for that I thank you, but I thought I should mention it.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review C:

After we put Piper to bed, Hunter and I were sitting up going over the letters we had been served with. I couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"I'll call Russ in the morning and see if she can even do this." Hunter says as he drops his letter on the floor. "I know she was pissed about us breaking up, but I didn't think she would do this." I didn't say anything, I couldn't. My eyes kept glancing to the sentence that said _…unfit parenting…parental rights terminated…_I wasn't going to loose my daughter again. "Shawn, please say something." I look up into Hunter's eyes and I see the worry flowing through them.

"I won't let her get our daughter Hunter, I don't care if I have to take her to Mexico, she is not getting Piper."

"I know Shawn-," I stand up and pace around the room.

"Why does this have to happen now Hunter, just when we are finally getting us back in order, this has to happen." I'm doing laps back and forth in front of Hunter, my voice getting louder and my breathing fast. "What the hell have we done to deserve this Hunter? What? I don't get it. But more important what has that sweet little girl," I say motioning towards the door that Piper is sleeping behind. "What has she done? Why does she keep having to go through this!" before I can say anything else I find myself wrapped in Hunter's strong arms, he pulls me tight against him.

"I don't know Shawn," he whispers in my ear, "I don't know what these things are happening, but I promise you, I promise you Shawn, I wont let anyone take her away from us okay, do you understand me?"

"I can't loose my baby again Hunter, I won't make it this time."

I don't know how long we stayed like that, wrapped close to each other, but soon we both knew we had to go to bed, we had to be up and to the arena at 8:3o in the morning. So we slowly pulled apart from each other, Hunter pressing a kiss on my forehead. "I'm gonna take a shower, then I'll come to bed, okay?" I just nodded my head. "I love you Shawn."

"I love you too." I sit back down on the bed and watch him as he gets his pajamas out of our joined bag, we were only staying at this hotel for 2 nights, then we were going to be spending most of our nights on the bus, we were going to enjoy the showers while we could. When he went into the bathroom and closed the door I stood up, grabbed the room key and headed out the door. I walked out the hotel and towards the buses. I quickly located my bus and I knocked on the door, hoping Jerry was still awake, I wasn't disappointed when he opened the door. "Hey Shawn, what are you doing out here so late?" I step onto the bus.

"Hey Jerry, I left something on here I need, I'll go get it and you can go back to doing whatever you were doing." I walk to the back, closing the door separating the beds form the rest of the bus. I lift up the mattress and dig out my biggest bag. I open it up, dig to the very bottom and pull out my almost empty bottle. I take it out, close the suitcase back up, put it back under the mattress. I then dig through the fridge in the back and pull out a bottle of water, I do a mix of drinking it and pouring it out the window. I then pour the liquid from my bottle into the water bottle. I tuck the empty glass bottle under the bed, I'll deal with it later, and walk back to the front of the bus with a pair of sweat pants in hand. "Well I'm off, see you bright and early tomorrow Jerry."

"Night Shawn." I step off the bus and I walk to the hotel, but I don't go back to the room, instead I take the stairs to the roof of the hotel. It's a bit chilly up here this late at night, but I need to get my mind off some things. I find a nice spot close to the edge of the building; I open the bottle up and set the pants to the side. I take a long drink and enjoy the warm feeling that fills my whole body.

"I thought I was the only one who was up this late when we all gotta be up at the crack of dawn." I jump at the voice; I turn to see it's just Phil Brooks. Great, all I need is this straight edge jackass on my tail. I quickly screw the lid back on and feel for a stick of gum as I answer him.

"Couldn't sleep, Hunter snores like a hibernating bear." He sits down next to me and looks down below us. "Do you make a habit of hanging out on rooftops at two in the morning?"

"It's nice up here, plus sleep is over rated. What about you? I'm always up at night, but don't family men usually sleep when the family sleeps?"

"Told you, Hunter snores."

"Oh I know he snores, he has a tendency, as you well know of, to fall asleep in the locker room if he's bored." I just shoot him a smile, wanting to get away from him even more now because I don't have my gum with me, I hope he can't smell it on my breath.

"Okay, so Hunter snoring explains why you can't sleep but it doesn't explain why you're drinking." I rolled my eyes.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh please Shawn, I'm not an idiot, I've been seeing you sneak drinks for months, how in the world Hunter doesn't know is beyond me." When he said that I stood up and tried walking away, but I was soon stopped by a hand on my arms. "Shawn, look, I don't know why you're drinking, but I can tell you that it's not gonna help whatever is wrong with you." I turned around and looked at him.

"Look Phil, I thank you for your concern, but I don't need your help, and this," I say as I hold up the bottle, "is water." With that I turn away from him and leave the roof, I get on the elevator and drink the rest of the stuff in the bottle.

It seemed like the stupid thing stopped on every floor and it was driving me nuts. Hunter was probably out of the shower and wondering where I went, since I left my phone in the room he had no way to contact me. Eventually I was at my floor and I got off, walking towards my room I freeze as I see Phil talking to Hunter, and my sweat pants, the ones I must have left on the roof, were being passed from Phil's hands to Hunter's. I was about to turn and get back on the elevator when I was spotted. "I found him." Phil says as he points towards me. I smile and slowly walk towards our room. Once I get there Phil leaves and Hunter goes back into the room, I can tell from his stance he's aggravated, if Phil told him about what he caught me doing I would kill him too.

I grab my sweat pants I had actually packed to wear tonight and I go to the bathroom and change and brush my teeth. When I get back into the room Hunter I slaying in bed looking tense, I feel the awkwardness in the room. I get into bed beside him, not really wanting to get into anything, I roll over and face the wall, I turn off the light on my side, but Hunter's stays illuminated as the silence thickens. We've been through this before, Hunter won't go to bed unless we talk, but he won't be the one to start the talk. I sigh and roll back over on my back and say, "What's wrong Hunter?"

"Why were you on the roof?"

"I needed some air."

"So you had to go all the way to the bus, get some pants, just to go to the roof to get air?"

"I didn't think I had packed sweats to sleep in."

"You could've asked me ya know."

"I know, but you were in the shower and I wanted my pants." Hunter rolls over and faces me.

"Shawn, you know you can talk to me right?" I turn my head and look at him; I see concern in his eyes. "If you need anything, I'm here to listen, that's my job Shawn, to be there for you."

"I know Hunter, and I promise, if there was something going on you'd be the first to know." I say as I shoot him a smile, he looks skeptical for a few seconds before he nods and wraps an arm around. He reaches over and turns off his light and snuggles further under the covers, I roll back to face the wall and tuck my body against his.

As the night rolled on, I found myself unable to sleep, this had been happening a lot recently, but I wasn't a mystery to me as of why, it was guild, plain and simple, guilt and fear. The guilt of the secret drinking, and lying to Hunter, the fear of getting caught in the act of either one of the two things was grating on my mind. I thought I was being careful, but if Phil, a dude who hardly took his iPod out of his ear caught on, it was only a matter of time until everyone else did. Hell, maybe Hunter already knew. I let out a sigh and made a small move to I could stretch out a bit, but I was surprised to hear Hunter's gruff voice say, "Can't sleep either huh?" I hear and feel my bones pop and I snuggle back against Hunter's side.

"Not really, I've been laying here since you turned the light off."

"I know, you have a tendency to move around in your sleep, you were still the whole time, kinda clueing me in that something was up, what are you thinking about?"

"I can't believe that Stephanie filed a custody order against us for unfit parenting. She couldn't take care of that damn cactus Vince got her for her office for the love of god, yet she thinks we are unfit parents."

"I know Shawn, it's stupid, but there is no judge in his right mind that would take a little girl out of a home that is stable."

"I don't know Hunter, you've seen her lawyers in action, you know how good they are."

"I know, but Russ is good too, and if it will make you feel nay better, we can bring your lawyer in on this too, Russ and Adam always worked well together."

"I wanna do that, I'll call Adam when you call Russ." We fell back into silence, Hunter held me tighter in his arms and pressed his face into my hair. He told me once, when I asked him why he did something that weird, he said he liked the way it smelled, that it made him feel better, safe. When he told me that I looked at him like he grew too heads because it sounded ridiculous. But when we went through out divorce, I kept one of his pillows with me, and at night, when I was feeling alone and hurt, I would burry my face in the pillow, and let his smell comfort me. I guess smell really is one of the more powerful senses.

"I wanna tell Mark about this." When I say that, he pulls his head up and I can tell from him tensing up he didn't like the idea. Before he could say anything I spoke up. "Before you explode, I know you don't like him, but he's very important to Piper, he may be able to help us with this." He pulls away from me, flips the light on and gets out of bed, grabbing a shirt, socks, and his shoes.

"Are you going blind as well as bald, the man doesn't like me, or you. You remember what he did when you told him we got back together don't you?"

"Of course I do-,"

"He got pissed and said the only reason he was going to have anything to do with us was because of Piper. I'm not going to go begging to get that assholes advice or opinion, the only reason it's even remotely part of his business is because he is Piper's godfather and guardian if we die, but right now, I would do anything to change _that_ decision." Before he is able to put on his shoes I kneel behind him and start rubbing his shoulders. I work out the tension knots and just wait till he calms down. He's been under a lot of strain lately, with us getting back together, moving, planning the wedding, work, and his mother passing away, it was all causing him to be short tempered and angry with everyone. Part of his problem right now was he hadn't been able to hit the gym and work out his frustrations, but tomorrow he would be working out and wrestling, so all his issues will be worked off.

Before I stop rubbing his shoulders he stands up and turns around. Wraps his arms around me and kisses me. "I'm sorry Shawn, I shouldn't have snapped like that, you don't deserve it."

"It's okay." I say, wanting to keep kissing him, considering the next month will be spent on a small bus with two kids and Randy and John.

"It's not okay, and I promise I'm gonna get better at it-," I pull him down then flip us over to where I'm on top of him. As I pull his shirt back off him I say,

"If you don't stop talking and kiss me, I'll feed you to Mark and bring popcorn to watch. I know we have a lot of stuff going on, but we cant do anything about it at 3 o'clock in the morning, so lets do what we can, and enjoy each other, think about the month to come, we are going to want this time." And with that, I kissed him and I helped Hunter work off his frustrations, and he helped me fall asleep.


	5. Four: Raising The Stakes

Hello, hello! Chapter Four!

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, Clayhammer 1000 and Paula-may for the great reviews, and to all the people who added the story to the alert list!

**Note: **Sorry for the tiny delay, but I went back and re-read _Piper_ and I discovered a few things that I wanna fix. One of the things being that I introduced a few things and only used them for a chapter or two and never used them again, and I wanna fix that. The main being the conflict with Chris Jericho. In Chapter 7 of _Piper_ I have some Jericho stuff and I think that's the last I mention of him, and I am gonna fix that. Jericho is a great bad guy, and I personally quite enjoy almost everything about him. So, enjoy some bashing from a Jericho-holic!

**Also**: I'm bringing back the annual budget meeting; I first talk about it in _Piper_ chapter 8.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review Cc:

I groaned and buried my head deeper into my pillow as Hunter's cell phone went off, signaling it was the start of our day. I hear him move around to turn it off, but once the horrid noise stops, he just lies in bed and doesn't move. "Shawn?" I lift my head up a little and say, "Yea?"

"Do we gotta get up?"

"'Fraid so, but I really don't want too." I cringe as the overhead light is flipped on. I drop my head back into the pillow and before I can ask what was going on I feel something land on the bed and hear Hunter grunt with the impact.

"Daddy! Josh is at the door, can I go eat with him and Uncle John and Randy?"

"Piper, you're not even dressed yet-,"

"Please daddy! I can get dressed really really fast

"And go without a shower, I don't think so." Realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with Hunter she turned to me.

"Dada, can I please go!"

"Your father said no, so there is my answer as well."

"But why?" she said in a whiney voice, her lower lip sticking out.

"Don't even start this morning Piper; go tell Josh that you'll see him at breakfast when we go down."

"But daddy!"

"Now." And with that she hopped off the bed and stomped out of the room, a few seconds later we heard the door slam. I shook my head and wrapped an arm around Hunter as he made to get out of the bed.

"Let her sulk Hunter, she'll be over it by the time we leave the room." he looks at me with a bit of annoyance in his eyes; I just shoot him a smile and kiss him. He wraps his arms around me as it gets deeper. I pull back and give a small laugh at the look on his face that mirrored the look Piper had when she left the room. "I know you want more, but if wee start we won't have time to finish, we woke up as late as we could, all three of us have to shower and get to the lobby before eight and it's seven-fifteen." I pressed another teasing kiss to his pouting lips and get out of bed. I wrap a sheet around my hips as I look for my sweats. Before I can find them Hunter has his one and is heading towards the bathroom. Before he gets to the door I throw a pillow at his head. He turns around and gives me a confused look.

"What?"

"I think you purposely throw my clothes as far away from the bed as you can so you can get to the shower first." I say as I locate them behind the TV.

"Boy you catch on quick." He quickly exits the room as a shoe flies across the room towards his head, it bounces off the door and I hear him laugh and the bathroom closes.

I pull on my sweat pants, then I go through the bag and I pull out some jeans and a shirt and lay them on the bed. Then I get Hunter's stuff out and fold them over my arm then I stretch and pull my hair into a messy ponytail and walk out of the room. I make a quick stop by the bathroom and drop Hunter clothes on the sink and walk out towards the living room.

I see Piper sitting on the pull out bed of the sofa and staring at nothing in particular. I sit down next to her, she scoots away from me, and so I scoot closer. We keep doing this until she's all the way against the arm rest. I smile when she huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. I mimic her actions and give her elbow a nudge with mine. "Hey, is it really that bad not eating with Josh?" she said nothing. "You do know you are gonna be on the same bus as them for the next month right?" still nothing. So I reach over and poke her side, and I smile when she tries to brush me away, I keep doing it until I end up full on tickling her.

"Dada stop!" she says in-between giggles and I just keep tickling her.

"Nope, I refuse to stop until you get in a better mood."

"I'm sorry, I wont be mad anymore, just please stop!" I'm about to when I see Hunter emerge from the bathroom. He sees what's going on and he comes over and starts tickling her as I move away. I hear her shrieks of laughter and both their voices as I walk to the bed and get my clothes. When I walk back to the bathroom I hear Piper say, "I'm sorry I got mad at you daddy, I love you."

"I love you too baby."

It was 7:56 when we all got to the lobby, Piper's hair was still wet and we didn't have time to eat, we all made it to the bus to find some muffins and fruit on the table. When Hunter got on the bus, Jerry closed the door and sped off as fast as the bus would let him. Piper dug right in to the food but Hunter I just got grabbed some fruit and sat down. Randy had is iPod in his ear and was doing something on his phone, he didn't even acknowledge that we had gotten on the bus. I was about to hit him when John spoke up. "He's been like that all morning, he downloaded some new game on his phone and he is determined to figure it out before we get to the arena."

"What is it?"

"I don't know some plumber game. Are you enjoying my wonderful idea to get some food on this bus?"

"Yea, thank you." Hunter says with a mouth full of apple.

"When I saw you guys were just getting up at 7 I figured you wouldn't have time to eat."

"No, you just wanted food on this bus because you eat like a goat." John throws a pillow from the couch at me.

"Shut up Shawn." I throw it back at him.

"No John." He throws it back at me, but I catch it and throw it back at him, but he smacks it out of the way and it ends up hitting Randy's phone and knocks it out of his hand. Hunter erupts in laughter at Randy's face, I just smile because the whole thing was John's fault, and John just nervously smiles at Randy.

"Baby...um…it wasn't my fault, Shawn, he…um…" John reaches down and picks up Randy's fallen phone. "Here's your phone." Randy reaches over and takes the phone from him hand, his face still completely void of emotion. "It's not like you were winning anyway." And with that, Randy tossed the cell on the couch and tackled John, they fell off the couch with the momentum and hit the floor with a thud. Hunter and I just took our feet off the floor and watched the two "adults" roll around on the floor. It didn't take long for John to get Randy in the STF, but since this was not in the ring, Randy could play dirty, so he pinched Johns arm, and John let go with a yelp and rubbed the bruise on his arm.

"Ow you big ogre, what'd ya do that for?"

"You couldn't figure that game out either John-boy." Randy says as he stands up and sits back on the couch, before John could get up Randy put his feet on John's stomach, and each time John tried to get up, Randy pushed his heel into his side. "You are staying there until we get to the arena." John tried to get up again, with no success.

"You just wait till we get there."

When the bus stopped Randy jumped off the couch and ran off the bus, but he had to stand outside till Jerry opened the luggage door, but John had to go wake up Josh who was sleeping in the back of the bus. Hunter got up and went to get his bag. "Piper, go with daddy, I'll be there in a minute." She made to grab another muffin but I took it out of her hand. "You've had three already, no more. Now scoot." I say as I gently swat her backside and she squeaks and runs off the bus, I watch her out the window, making sure she catches up with Hunter, I laugh out loud as she jumps on his back while he's walking across the parking lot, almost knocking off balance with her weight. I wait till John and Josh get out the of bed area before I head back there. I dig around in one of my bags and grab a bottle, tuck it into my jacket pocket and walk off the bus. I get my ring bag from under the bus and head inside the building.

We were the last bus to get to the arena, so the place was crawling with other superstars, divas, camera people, techs, and everything in between. I followed the signs the said "locker room" and I ended up in a huge room that was going to be holding every superstar and all their stuff for the rest of the day and night. I spotted Hunter and Piper, mostly because Piper was sitting on top of a set of lockers; Hunter must've put her there so she wouldn't get stepped on. As I walked over to them I though about the day that Wade Barrett hadn't been watching where he was going and stepped on Piper's hand and broke two of her fingers. He has been so freaked out about that incident by a number of things, probably the biggest being Randy chasing him down and punching him in the jaw, ending in Randy being suspended for three weeks for unnecessary violence against a co-worker and Wade having to color a picture with Piper the following week.

I set the bag down on the bench and pulled out my ring gear and hung them up on the hook, then set my shoes and socks on the floor, and then set my bag on the top shelf of the little white thing. I look at Hunter and ask him if he has the tape. He digs through his bag and says no, and I realize I put the tape and all our braces in the duffel bag that's on the bus. I turn to head out of the room, back to the bus. Jerry has been a bus driver for Hunter and I on numerous trips and he knows that we are forgetful and often leave things on the bus. There was one trip Hunter left his ring gear on the bus and Jerry was with the other drivers at the local bar and Hunter wasn't able to get his gear and ended up wearing his dress clothes to the ring and wrestling in them. When I get outside I see Jerry hasn't closed the hatch yet, so I grab the duffel and hit the side of the bus, letting him know it was okay to close it and get off the bus. As I walk the bottle in my pocket is getting harder and harder to resist so I make a stop by the bathroom, and I end up drinking about half the bottle, and I don't have my toothbrush or gum. I feel an overwhelming urge to hit something as I storm out of the bathroom, passing by Chris Jericho and slamming the door closed behind me. About halfway down the hallway I freeze when I realize I left both the bottle of Jack Daniels and my jacket in the bathroom stall, and as I turn to head back, I freeze again as I see Chris Jericho walk out of the bathroom with both the items in his hand. I quickly turn and briskly walk the direction I was originally headed, hoping like hell Jericho hadn't seen me.

I quickly go to the locker room, and I'm annoyed when I don't see either Hunter or Piper in the room. I look around and see Adam, Jeff, and Matt so I walk over to them. "Hey guys." Jeff turns and looks at me and he smiles and says,

"Hey Shawn, what's up?"

"Not much did you see where Hunter went?"

"Not Hunter, but Piper is with Mark, I think they went to the trainer's office, you know all about Mark's shoulder."

"Thanks man." And I walk back out the door, the trainers sounded like a good place to go, Jericho didn't have any major medical issues that involve the trainers stretching him out, but Hunter did. But when I get to the trainers, I am let down when I see neither Hunter or Mark, so I leave the room and I head down to where the ring would be, maybe he was there. Sur enough, I walk down the ramp and see Hunter sitting in the seats that are set up where the crowd will sit in several hours from now and Piper is running around with the tech guys helping them do a few random things around the ring. I hop over the barricade and sit next to Hunter "Jeff said she was with Mark."

"She was, but Arnold asked if she wanted to help him do some stuff and you know how much she loves to help unfold the apron and stash water bottles around the ring."

"Have you gotten a call sheet yet?"

"Yea, there's a meeting at 10, then you and I are free until two, but since all we have to travel around in is a bus, I don't see what we can really do, because John and Randy are busy at noon."

"We fighting tonight?"

"Yep, I get John and you get your good buddy Chris." I rolled my eyes and Hunter just laughed. "Shawn, you and he really need to get over whatever is going on between the two of you."

"Wont happen, even if I felt like asking to burry the hatchet, rats don't speak English and I don't feel like talking to rodents." He just shakes his head at me and wraps an arm around me and we watch Piper get trapped under the apron that Arnold had placed over her head and dropped.

Turns out that when Hunter said meeting, he failed to tell me it was the ever popular annual budget meeting, which also means a visit from everyone's favorite money grabber, Robert James Warrington II. Hunter and I stand outside the room, not wanting to go in the room for the life of us. I wasn't around for last years meeting, but the year before that a twister went through the town. Josh and Piper were in some random room doing there school for the day, Ronald West wasn't going to Canada so he was keeping the kids four hours longer than he usually does. We were waiting for Randy and John to show up, I was wanting, but seriously doubting it would happen, to see John and Randy running up the hallway wearing the wrong shirts and condom wrappers in their pockets. Sure enough, they came walking down the hallway, Randy in his black shirt with his logo on it and John with his horrid bright purple shirt. Now it was the four of us standing outside the door, but we have to go in when we see that we wont get to sit next to each other if we wait any longer.

I'm relieved to discover there is service in this room, so I pull my phone out and put it on silent. I then tuck it under my leg and carry on a conversation with the people around me. My attention is drawn away from my conversation with Christian when I see Jericho walk into the room, wearing my jacket. I follow his movements as he walks up the rows of chairs and ends up sitting two rows away, right in front of me. He turns and hold up his water bottle in the air as he would if he was giving a toast. I feel anger boil up, but I also know there is nothing I can do right now. He turns back around as the door to the room is shut and Vince walks in followed by, Robert James Warrington II. I let out a sigh and slouch down in my chair, and I see a few divas do the same; no doubt they will end up sleeping on the floor before the hour is up. Vince gives his typical opening speech, and before he steps away from the podium his eyes move over me and Hunter, and he tells John and Randy to sit between us again. So now I'm between Randy and Christian, not a better trade for Vince really, Randy and Christian were the ones who kept pouring Mt. Dew in Vince's coffee the entire month of March because of St. Patrick's Day.

As I predicted, after about thirty minutes I could see about six girls on the floor, stealing jackets and other things as pillows and blankets. Rey must have given up on bringing his phone to these things, because each year since he came to the business he has had to get a new phone each year after this meeting. But he looked so bored that he was probably thinking breaking the phone would be worth it. Adam is on the other side of Christian, Randy and John are by each other, Jeff and Matt, Mark and Glenn, are all sitting by each other and Vince thinks that Hunter and I are gonna cause a problem? I slouch even more and I remember my cell. I pick it up and decide to have a little fun. I flip through my ring tones and find the one I'm looking for, the high pitched whistle that I was told was a good way to test hearing. I hit the tone and switched the option to repeat, and I sat the cell on my leg and acted like I usually would in this situation, bored and innocent. After a few seconds I saw people in the room look around, trying to locate the source of the noise. Christian and Randy were the funniest to watch, looking all over the place, and coming to a loss. I had to surprises a laugh as Robert James Warrington II stopped talking and started looking around. Vince stood up and said, "Whoever is making that sound had better stop or so help me." I let it go a few more minutes before I turned it off, but since it was such a high sound and had been playing for a long time so people were still looking around the room.

After a few more minutes I decide I have nothing left to loose and that I need to either get out of here or die of boredom. I slide out of my seat, getting weird looks from those around me, and Hunter asks me what I'm doing. I get down to the floor and make a crawl towards the door; I figure that if the girls can get away with sleeping I could make it to the door. I was wrong. "Mr. Michaels, what do you think you're doing?" I think quick and stand up.

"I lost my contact, I cant see our favorite money man-,"

"If you don't sit down and stay in your seat I will make you work with the clean up crew and the set up crew." Yikes, that is not something I want to be a part of, so I quickly go back to my seat and don't move until Vince's eyes are back on RJW. So I end up doing what I always do if I cant stand what's going on around me but I can leave, I fall asleep.

My nap seemed to act as a fast forwards button and the meeting is soon over, I end up getting separated from Hunter and the group by the mass exodus of the people in the room and I end up stuck next to the biggest pain in the ass I had ever been around, Chris Jericho. Before I can get away he places his hand on my arm and I hear him say, "What's up _Jack?_" I feel the anger again and I turn to look at him.

"That's my jacket."

"Is it? I wasn't sure." He says as he takes it off and before he hands it too me he says, "I found it in the bathroom, in the same stall that I found this." He reaches into his bag and pulls out my half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. I keep my face as neutral as I could. "Now, what would I good Christian boy need with a bottle of 50% alcohol? Life getting too tough? Finally realizing that your pathetic excuse for a husband has actually broken the great Shawn Michaels?" before I let my emotions get the best of me and before I could hit him, I feel someone pull me back and I look to see it's Phil Brooks.

"Hey, it's getting tense up in here." He says as he steps between Chris and I, Phil gets my jacket out of Chris' hand and hands it too me. "You of all people should know how it feels to have your stuff taken from you? I remember one time when you and Christian had your stuff tossed around on live TV years ago." Chris took a step closer to Phil, and Phil didn't even blink.

"I suggest you watch it punk, I have no problems putting you down."

"Please, I'm shaking in my boots." Chris just smirks and replies.

"Maybe _I_ wont knock you down physically, but if you hang out with this man," he says smirking my way, "you'll end up being a hypocrite as well, and we all know how people feel about people who don't follow what they preach." And as he walked off he tosses the bottle of Jack Daniels towards us, Phil catches it, smiles as me, then walks off with the bottle in his hand.

**Gotta love Chris don't ya! lol, please review!**


	6. Five: One Too Many

Hello, hello! Chapter Five!

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, Clayhammer 1000 and Paula-may for the great reviews, and to all the people who added the story to the alert list!

**Note: **I'm glad you all liked how I wrote Chris, the comments were great. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'm sorry its both short and late.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review Cc:

I leave the room a few feet behind Phil, rubbing the sides of my head as I walk. I get to the hallway and I run into something hard, I glance up and see Hunter. "You okay Shawn?" he says as he looks at me. I smile up at him.

"Yea, just tired. I swear that meeting gets worse and worse each year." He puts his arm around my shoulder and we walk down the hallway. "We gotta call Russ and Adam sometime today." He says, his tone drooping to a lower level.

"I know, I also gotta call the tux shop and make sure the appointment for the fitting is on the 16th."

"Well, were free till two I think, so lets go make our phone calls, I also have a meeting with the writers for something, I don't exactly know what. Meet you in the locker room?" he asks as he pulls away.

"Ya, I'll text you when I get there, you do the same." I say as I move to step away from him, but Hunter grabs a hold of my hand and pulls me back against him as he gives me a kiss, and I don't wanna leave him. Hunter has this ability to make everything seem like easy street no matter what's going on around us. But I have to pull away. I give him an evil glare and he just smiles at me. "See ya in a bit Shawn." And down the hall he goes.

I walk down the hall and out of the building. The arena is huge, so I wonder around until I find a quiet spot, I sit on the ground, my back against the building, and I pull out my cell, flip through my contacts until I find Adam's Law, and press the call button. After a few rings I hear this high pitched voice say, "Adam's Law, this is Maxine speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hi, this is Shawn Michaels and I need to talk to Adam Lawson."

"Mr. Lawson is in a meeting, can I have a number for him to call later?" she says in a bored voice in between gum chewing.

"Just tell him who it is and he'll get un-busy." I hear her sigh and the phone is sent to annoying elevator music. A few minutes later I hear the phone click back and I hear Adam's voice.

"Hey Shawn, my man, how can I be of assistance for my number one man?"

"Hunter and I are being challenged for parental rights of Piper." Silence.

"Come again?"

"Hunter and u are being sued for parental rights of our daughter by Stephanie McMahon. We got served yesterday."

"Okay, do you have the letter with you?"

"No it's back in our room, but what does it matter, what are we gonna do?"

"First thing I need to know is Hunter's lawyer being brought in too?"

"Ya, Hunter should be calling him as we speak."

"Okay, all I'm going to say right now is don't panic. The McMahon lawyers are good, but between Russ and I they shouldn't be a threat-,"

"But they could be right?"

"Shawn, you need to be calm, right now I cant tell you much, let me talk to Russ and I will call you tomorrow. I'll get a hold of a copy of the suit and spin some magic, this should all go away."

"Okay, I wont loose her again Adam, I wont."

"You wont have too, I'm gonna go and get started on this, the more homework I do the better we are gonna do if this goes to trial. Call me tomorrow at 10 and I'll be able to tell you more, sound good?"

"Yea, call you tomorrow. Thanks Adam." And I flip my phone closed.

After a quick call to the tux place, I was just sitting and enjoying the quiet. "You know-," I opened my eyes and saw Phil walking my way, "-the longer you hide what your doing, the more you risk getting caught by the two people you would rather die for than hurt-," he slides down the wall and sits next to me, "-No matter how much one of them have already hurt you."

"You've been popping up a lot lately, you my new stalker?"

"Please, I have to avoid my own, a job in itself. So, two people know your dirty little secret, how long do you think its gonna take for them to find out?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do, and if you wanna deny it that's fine by me, but think about Hunter, and if that's not enough, think about that little girl of yours." With that I stood up and stared down at the tattooed man,

"Listen, you don't know me, you don't know Hunter, and you sure as hell don't know my daughter. So before you get all preachy on me, you need to learn a few things about how things work."

"I know more than you think Shawn." He says as he stands up and faces me. "You may think your keeping them safe, you may think you're keeping her safe, but your just gonna end up hurting them in the long run. Tell them Shawn, let them help you before you end up hurting them. Before you loose them." And he walked away, leaving me standing there, seething at his words.

Even though I was outside I felt trapped. One quick glance at my watch told me I had about an hour before Hunter would wonder where I was, so I took off my jacket, set it on a crate outside and started walking to where the buses were parked, but I walked past them and walked along the side of the road until I hailed a taxi and told the driver to take me to a bar. It wasn't a long drive, but I told the drive I would pay double if he was back here in thirty minutes. I paid the fair for the ride here and walked in the building and walked right to the bar, needing to make the tightness in my chest disappear. I needed to forget all that was going on, I wanted to forget Phil, Jericho, Hunter, Piper, the lawyers, the wedding, everything.

Hunter's PoV

I watched Shawn walk away and I had to take several drinks from my water to get the taste of alcohol from my lips. I've lost count of how many times I've kissed him and have had to force myself not to pull away. I smelled it on him before we went into the meeting, I've smelt it on him several times since he checked out of rehab. It was obvious he still had his demons, it was obvious I hadn't been able to fight them all for him. I sighed and walked to the locker room so I could grab my cell phone so I could call Russ. It didn't take me long to get my call made, Shawn was much quicker than I because Adam had already called Russ. But now I was out of things to do. I decided to make a quick trip to where the kids were having school, Ronald wanted to get done early so the kids could enjoy the time in Mexico, they didn't get to come very often when we went out of the U.S. the only other country we let them go to was Canada, simply because its pretty easy crossing the Canadian border.

The room they were in had a window in the door so I was able to look in, from the look of the table they were sitting at they were doing science. "She looks happier than I've seen her in a long time." I don't even look at the person who spoke, the voice belongs to Mark. I'm actually trying not to look outside for flying pigs.

"She's happy her family is together, not that you would know anything about that now." That tone didn't fly with him and he grabbed a hold of my arm and forced me to look at him,

"You didn't see what he was going through. You weren't there to see him destroy both himself and that little girl. So don't you dare say I don't have any idea about what's going on here." I raise my hands in the air, taking a step back. Getting into a fist fight outside my daughter's class is the last thing I wanna do right now.

"Look, Mark…I wanna thank you for looking out for him during that, but I'm back now, and I'm never doing that to him again. I lost everything Mark, and I almost didn't get them back, I almost lost that little girl and the best man I've ever known. I wont leave them again. Even if I did want to leave, I wouldn't do it anytime soon, not with what's going on." The last part of that caught his attention.

"What makes 'now' so special?" he says, his voice dropping to an even tone, his temper back under control. I signal for him to follow me, this is a conversation that needs to take place away from the listing ears of my colleagues.

Shawn's PoV

Before I knew it my hour had came and went, so it was time to get back. I downed the shot I had left and headed towards the door, but that was a little harder than I was expecting it to be. I fell against a wall, after a few seconds I tried it again, this time I successfully made it out the door, but the bright sun cased me to stumble a few steps towards the street. I look around, the cars, trees, buildings all blur together as I look for a taxi. That damn driver was told to be here. Another turn of my head, more blurring, and I see it. I need to get to it; Hunter will be looking for me. I stumble towards the vehicle, the step from the building to the ground is a big one, a have to fight to keep upright, I need the taxi. Just a few more steps, then I hear screams, "Watch out!" and I feel bone crushing pain and as I see the ground coming fast towards me, the world goes dark.

He He C;


	7. Six: Darkness Unknown

Hello, hello! Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and Paula-may for the great reviews, and to all the people who added the story to the alert list!

**Note: **The scene at the end is from 2009 when DX had to go to Little People's Court. I am no doctor, any medical related things you will find is only there because I watch House M.D. religiously. All the BAC figures are from the internet, and I kinda just made up the injuries, the names of the car I found on the internet, and I made up the name of the bar, I have no idea if it's even a word.

**Warning:** The F-word is in this chapter; sorry if it bugs you, but I think it made that part more powerful and a brief mentioning of God.

**Also: **I cried writing this, so…you might cry reading it…

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review

{Hunter's PoV}

"Hunter, calm down, you're gonna put a hole in the floor."

"I'll calm down when I either find out where he is, or he shows up. He better freaking show up so I can hit him." I say as I make yet another lap in front of John who was texting anyone who might have some idea as to where Shawn was. I haven't seen him in three hours and I was getting very worried about him. For the millionth time I picked up my cell and called his phone again, and it went to voicemail again. "Shawn, I'm getting extremely worried, please call me. Please." And I hang up my phone. I hold the phone in my hand, my nerves are frazzled, and I hate being left in the dark. I jump about a foot in the air when a hand is placed on my shoulder. I turn and see Vince, and behind him I see two police officers. I feel my heart drop.

"Hunter, I need you to come to my office." Vince says his voice very low.

"Why?" I say as I feel my throat close up.

"Hunter, just come with me." He says as he tries to lead me from the room. But I'm too big for him, and I don't even move.

"Not until you tell me why." Vince sighs, takes him hand away from me and says,

"Shawn was in an accident, he's in the hospital-," I stumbled back, my hand reaching out for the wall, or something hard to lean into. "-he was hit by a car Hunter." I feel some hands grasp onto me and leads me to a chair, my breathing uneven. I see a blurry figure drop into my line of sight, I can tell from the bright hat it's John.

"Hunter, hey man, Randy and I are gonna take you to the hospital, you need to see Shawn." I see a tan man walk into the room, followed by a little boy and girl. Seeing the girl makes the fog clear away. I stand up and run to my daughter and sweep her up into my arms.

"Where is he?" I say, wanting to get to him as soon as possible.

"Hunter-," John steps closer to me; I back two away from him.

"What hospital?" I demand as I quickly snatch up my bag and toss it over my shoulder.

"Daddy what's wrong?" Her voice is small and shaky, picking up on my own panic.

"Hunter, you need to calm down-,"

"Not until you tell me what hospital Shawn is in!"

"Daddy's in the hospital?" tears fall from her scared green eyes, but her voice is smothered by the beat of my own heart and John's voice. I see his mouth moving, but I hear nothing. Before I can take another step someone rips Piper from my arms and I'm pinned against a wall. I blindly struggle against the forces holding me, Piper's scream echoing in my ears in time with my heart. I fight to break free, I blindly punch and kick at the arms and bodies pinning me back. I have to get loose, Shawn needs me, I need to get Piper and go- _smack_- with the sound my head snaps to the side, the shock sends all senses back into my mind, and the fog lifts from my mind.

I see Piper in the arms of Mark, her little face red and streaked with tears; he has her tight in his arms, gently rubbing her back in soothing circles. The hands holding me against the wall belonged to John, Randy, and Jeff, and from the look on his face, it was Vince who slapped me. If the circumstances were different I'd say he was happy he finally got the chance to hit me. "I'm ok, I'm okay, you can let me go, I'm alright." Very slowly they let me go, I stand up straight and fix my disheveled clothes and smooth my hair out. Mark sets Piper on the floor and she runs to my arms, I grab her and hold her tight to me again. "Where is he?"

{Shawn's PoV}

Pain, that's all I feel, is pain. But there is more than that; darkness is surrounding me, a suffocating blackness, with no light to help. I try to move, but I cant, I'm heavy, trapped by my own weight. I try to move my eyes, but they won't move, I'm trapped here. I try to cry out, Hunter will know what to do, but nothing comes from my throat. Even that hurts, I know nothing but the pain and the dark. I don't know where I am, but I know I need to get out, I hate the dark.

{Hunter's PoV}

The drive was taking too long, John had taken a hold of my hand long ago, fearing I would dig a hole in my hand from my nails. Randy and Mark sat in the back, the kids were still at the arena with the guys, just until we figured out what was going on. I wasn't told much, just that he was in critical condition and not expected to make it. With each passing mile I felt more and more fear grip my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut so the tears wouldn't escape my eyes. The last time I had felt this helpless was when I woke up and Shawn was gone. I had the same feeling now, dread. Dread that I would never see him again. "Hunter, he's gonna be okay. He's a tough guy." John says as he squeezes my hand and presses the gas petal of Vince's rental car down more. My eyes are glued to the side of the rode, searching for the hospital sign.

We soon pull into the parking lot and I jump out of the car and run inside, Mark close on my heels. Right to the desk, I stop just in time to avoid running into it. "Shawn Michaels, what room is he in?" the lady gave me a stern, bored look and lazily typed his name in her computer. Each tap of the keys, and each passing second was driving me insane, I just wanted to find him and get some answers.

"Mr. Michaels is in the intensive care until, the 8th floor, room 203, but only family-," I made a mad dash for the stairs, knowing the wait for the elevator would kill me. I have no idea if Mark followed me, but at the moment I didn't care, I was floors away from finding Shawn.

I finally found the 8th floor, but before I could go through the door I was grabbed and held back, it had to be Mark. "Let me go!" I say as I rip out of his grip, but he slams me against the wall, I'm getting really freaking sick of being slammed around.

"You need to calm down before you go in there. More than likely the police are gonna talk to you before you can even see him, and if you go in there all worked up they may not let you see him. Now calm down." As much as I hated it, he was making sense. He lets me go and I take a few deep breaths. I want to-no-I need to see Shawn. After a few minutes Mark lays a hand on my shoulder and gently pushes me through the door. We follow the signs to room 203, but just when I think I can see him I see two cops outside his door. I stop in the hallway and stare at them. Just beyond that door was Shawn, who knew what I would find beyond that door, but I didn't care, I needed to see how he was. But the officers saw me, and they made there way towards me. Mark replaces his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it as they stop right in front of me.

"Mr. Helmsley?" I just nod, "I'm Officer Rodriguez and his is Officer Maza. I understand that you want to go see Mr. Michaels, but we need to talk first. There are a few things about the accident that you should be aware of.

The officers, one man one woman, led Mark and I too a waiting room, Officer Maza spoke up, her voice thick with the Spanish accent. "Is this man family too?"

"Yes, anything you tell me I'm gonna tell him, might as well kill two birds with one stone, now can you please tell me what happened to my husband?"

"The records say he is not married." Said Officer Rodriguez.

"We were married, we got a divorce, we're getting remarried in two weeks, can you please tell me what is wrong with him?" I say, the fear clutching my heart, sending pains through my chest, on top of the anger I was feeling that I wasn't getting my questions answered. Officer Maza stepped out of the room, but I didn't care, I wanted answers.

"What all were you told about his accident?" asked Rodriguez.

"Just that he was hit by a car."

"Do you know where?"

"No! Okay, we got out of a meeting, he left to make some phone calls, was missing for a few hours and then I'm told he was hit by a car. I don't know fucking details, just tell me what happened to him!" Mark's grip is the only thing that kept me sitting down, my chest hurts from my ragged breathing. Mark grips my shoulder tighter.

"I'm sorry sir, I just didn't want to repeat myself." Mark's voice cuts though.

"Officer, can you please just tell us what happened to Shawn."

"Mr. Michaels was hit by a Ford Mondeo. According to witnesses, he was walking across the road towards a cab, the driver says he was there to pick up Mr. Michaels upon his instructions. The accident happened outside a local bar called El Sobre. Upon his arrival to this hospital, it was discovered his BAC, blood alcohol content, was well above the legal limit. It was 0.36, he's lucky that alone didn't kill him."

Before I even had a chance to take in what I had just heard, the door opened and Officer Maza walked in, followed by a man in a white coat, obviously a doctor. The man shook my hand. "Hello, I'm Dr. Flaker, I'm Shawn's primary doctor while he's here with us. Mind if I sit down, we have a lot to discuss." I just nodded my head, and the doctor sat across from me and the officer's left the room, I guess they already knew what was going on with Shawn. "I know you want to see him, but there are a few things you need to know about before I let you go in. you do not need to go in unprepared." When I just stared at him, I sighed and dove right in. "I'm gonna beat around the bush, Shawn is in a coma, a very deep coma. But given his injuries, it's not surprising. When he was brought in, there was massive hemorrhaging, Shawn suffered some internal injuries, his lungs were both punctured, we had to install tubes to keep them inflated, bruising to his liver and spleen. The outside is a bit more complicated. His left leg was is broken, the bone snapped in half from where he was hit, his left hip popped out of place, three of his ribs are broken, two cracked, just from the car. When he hit the pavement, he cracked his skull and broke his nose." With each passing injury I was told, the stiller I sat. How could a human being be alive after all of that? Mark's hand had slipped from my shoulder and I could hear his breathing increase. I felt like my world had been spinning since I left the arena and now it was crashing. I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes and I was fighting to catch my breath.

"Mr. Helmsley?" silence, the doctor placed his hand on my knee, snapping me back into reality as he said, "Hunter, there is a chance he wont make it through the night. He's chances of making it are not very good. But if he makes it though the next 48 hours, then we have hope. I know this is a lot to take in, but you did not need to go in there unprepared. I'm gonna let you go see him, and so can his friends and only for shot periods of time and two people only in the room. You can stay as long as you like." The doctor stood up, Mark shook his hand, he knew I wouldn't be able to do it, and he walked out of the room, saying we needed to talk tomorrow. Mark set up the time, nine in the morning.

I don't know how long I just sat there before I took a deep breath and stood up from the chair. I was shaking so bad Mark gripped my arm to steady me. John and Randy had managed to find us and were as nervous for me as I was to see Shawn. Mark kept a hold of my hand and we slowly made our way to the door of room 203. Mark released my arm when I asked to go in alone. "We're all here for you Hunter, yell if you need us." I just nodded and gripped the handle of the door. I just stood there for a few more seconds before I turned it and walked into the room. The first thing that hit me was the smell, the stale air assaulted my nose, and the stench of the disinfectant was nauseating. The next thing was the noises. I closed my eyes as the beeping grew louder, my world was spinning. A few more breaths and I slowly opened my eyes and let them land on the pale, unmoving form on the bed.

My breath rushed from my lungs as my knees gave out and I landed on the floor with a thud, my knees ached with the impact, and the door flew open. As hands wrapped around me I felt my breath coming in short, harsh, uneven gasps as my eyes stayed glued to the thing on the bed. There was no way that was Shawn. None at all, Shawn had color, was able to move, skin free on the horrid scars that were on this. Tubes and wires, white sheets, bandages, wraps, and casts were all I could see. I felt myself dragged to my feet and I broke from the hands and made my way to the bed where I fell down again, I had to prove that this wasn't Shawn, that there had to be some mistake. That this thing was some other family's nightmare.

When my eyes saw the face, I felt tears fall from my eyes, this was Shawn. The tiny scar above his left eyebrow was the proof I couldn't deny. "Oh Shawn-," I say as I grab his hand, but barley being able to due to all the wires and IV's. I feel a hand on my back, I don't even care, my Shawn in hurt, and possibly dying. It didn't even look like him. His nose was swollen, one of his eyes black the other had stitches around it. His beautiful hair was hidden by the white bandage around his head, his eyes closed, no movement behind his swollen eyelids. I laid my head against his body and tried to stop my tears. In my muddled mind I found myself praying. Praying to the God I told Shawn was a waste of time. I needed Him to bring my Shawn back to me. Back to Piper. A million thoughts were racing through my mind as I held onto his hand. How was I gonna tell Piper that her daddy might not be coming home?

{Shawn's PoV}

The dark was suffocating me, I don't know how long I have been fighting to get out, my body hurt more now than it did, I was so tired, I just wanted to give up and let the darkness consume me, I knew that giving in would be easier than fighting, it always was. There was no sound here; it was silent and dark, and painful. And I was getting sick of fighting it all.

I felt myself slowly start to give up, it seemed, if it was at all possible, the darkness was getting thicker, but the pain was easing…_"Oh Shawn-,"_…What was that…there was a pain the shot through my hand…the darkness was being disturbed by four thin strips of glowing lime green light.

_"It is a little spooky now that I'm down here…I can't see anything can you?" _I hear a voice in my head, it sounds like mine, but my lips arent moving-

"_I can't see a thing." _That sounds like the "Oh Shawn" I just heard, who is it?"

"_Dark…pitch…black…black of night…darkness-"_

"_Okay Shawn, alright we get it, its dark, I got it okay? If only we had some light." _ The green lights got a little brighter, then went out completely and I was left alone, in the dark, in the silence, and with the pain again.


	8. Seven: Strength and Guidance

Hello, hello! Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, Clayhammer1000, TheVampireLucinda, and Paula-may for the great reviews, I was very scared that I over did a few things, but if you're all happy, I'm happy. So thank you!

**Note: **_This chapter had multiple PoV's, hope nobody gets confused. _The scene at the end is from 2006 a few months before DX got back together. I am no doctor, any medical related things you will find is only there because I watch House M.D. (sad it's over:[) More religion at the end, but once again, it's for the story, and to give everything more impact.

**Please Read: **I would like to know what everyone thinks of giving Shawn a PoV. I like them, but they can be removed, so let me know what you think about them. Thank you!

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review

**John's PoV**

Randy had Hunter down in the cafeteria, making him get something to eat, Mark had taken a taxi back to the arena to be with Piper, we had gotten a call from Adam saying she was freaking out. Not that I can blame the poor girl. So I was in Shawn's room, looking down at the lump on the bed that used to be one of the liveliest people on the Earth. I pulled a chair up next to the bed and held his hand, pretty much the only part of him that wasn't covered in something. "Hey Shawn, you need to get better soon man. Vince is gonna have a fit that you and Chris wont be able to fight at the Pay Per View." I didn't know what to say to him, if he could even hear me. The silence in the room made me feel uncomfortable, just being in this room made me uncomfortable. But I wouldn't leave the room, Hunter only left because I told him I would stay with Shawn, Hunter didn't want him to be alone. I just sat there and held his hand, if he was aware, at least he knew I was there.

I guess I was there longer than I thought because before I knew it Hunter was back in the room, and basically knocking me away from Shawn; Hunter grasped the hand I had been holding tight in his grip. "I'm back Shawn, I'm back. I wouldn't have left but they made me." He says, his eyes locking on the face of Shawn. Randy gently nudged my shoulder and I followed him out into the hallway. Randy has always been able to read my emotions. As soon as we were out of the room he pulled me into him arms, holding me tight against him as I tired to keep my emotions at bay. "It's okay John, it's okay." He says as he rests his head on top of mine.

"No it's not. God Randy did you see him? that's not Shawn."

"Shhh, he'll be okay." He just holds me tighter as I pull myself together, we need to be strong for Hunter, he wouldn't be able to get through this alone. He barley made it through the first weeks of their divorce, if Shawn died, he would probably join him.

Randy slowly released me and we went to the waiting room and waited. Mark was gonna bring Josh to us; I have no idea what he was going to do with Piper. If Shawn was going to die, Piper deserved to see him and say goodbye, but at the same time, for her to see him like that would probably do more harm than good. The longer we sat there, the more my mind wondered. If Shawn died, what would we do then? Be there for Hunter obviously, but there would be more to it than that, we would have to take care of Piper as well. Hunter would either shut down or act like nothing was wrong. But at least time would make everything less over time, a lot faster than if Shawn did make it.

Who knew that damage to his brain, would he even remember who he was if he woke up? what about his physical injuries? I doubt he would ever be able to wrestle again. What had the car done to his already messed up back? Even if Shawn woke up it would be a long time before he got to go home, and an even longer time until he would be up to par. I shook my head to clear away those thoughts. All I knew is whatever happened, I would be there for my friend, I would be there. And that whatever happened was meant to be. I grabbed ahead of Randy's hand and held it, and closed my eyes and said a prayer, a prayer for Shawn, and his family.

**Mark's PoV**

The ride back to the arena was nowhere near long enough. The whole way back I thought about Piper and what I would say to her when she asked me how Shawn was. I knew she was worried, as was everyone else at work. All anyone knew was that Shawn was hurt, nobody knew how bad, and at Hunter's request, I wasn't going to say how bad he was, but I wasn't going to tell them he was okay either. Hunter was reeking with guilt right now. Guilt that he hadn't confronted Shawn on his drinking sooner, that he let him leave the arena when he was obviously upset about something, and a whole bunch of other problems.

It was weird to think that all it took was an hour and a half talk with Hunter, the man I blamed for everything that had happened in the last year and a half, for me to realize how much he had suffered as well. All I had seen was Shawn's pain. I saw Shawn go from being full of life to barley making it through each day. When I was told that Shawn had gone back to Hunter I lost it. I refused to see him, even speak with him. but my silence only lasted about two weeks, I had missed Piper like crazy, and the only way I would be able to see her would be to make a truce with Shawn. But now here we were, all of us together again, united as we wait to hear the news of Shawn.

The cab pulled up outside the arena, I paid the driver and slowly made my way inside. The Show was already in full swing, so I had to either wait for promos to finish or take detours, but I eventually made my way to the locker room, and I slowly walked in. the room was full of several superstars who, when they saw me, converged on my like flies to a dead body, all wanting to know how Shawn was, I spotted Jay and I asked him where Piper was, to which he responded Adam had taken her to the bus to lay down. So then I told everyone what I thought acceptable and went to the bus.

I quietly climbed into the bus and saw Adam on the couch with a sleeping Piper curled up his lap, tear tracks noticeable on her little cheeks, I gently knocked on the side, and Adam turned off the TV and motioned for me to sit down. "She's been out for about an hour. How's Shawn?" for some reason, the look in his eyes made me tell him everything that I could remember about Shawn's injuries, about how bad he looked, about how Hunter reacted, and about what was to come. When I was finished he just sat there, his left hand gently stroking Piper's red hair away from her face, while his face was stone. But a few minutes later he broke the heavy silence in the air. "He'll be okay Mark. He has to be. He has unfinished business, and one thing I knew about Shawn is he hates to leave things incomplete. He'll be back, making us miserable with his early morning phone calls and stupid pranks." He nods his head again before he leans back against the couch. "He'll be okay."

While Adam was convincing himself that there was nothing to worry about, I gently shook Piper awake, it took a little while for her watery green eyes to recognize who she was looking at, but once she did, she sat right up and asked how her daddy was. I didn't say anything, but I pulled her into my arms and gave her a hug, but she pushed me back. "Uncle Mark, how's daddy?" her face scrunching up like she was trying not to cry, so I gave a small sigh and sat her on my knee.

"Piper, you're daddy was in an accident today, he's in the hospital."

"I know all that, is he gonna be okay?" her green eyes were locked on my green eyes, hers looking at me with fear, her brain telling her the worst had happened.

"He's hurt pretty badly sweetie."

"But he's gonna be okay right? I mean, he at the hospital, where they make people better. They're gonna be able to fix my daddy right?" she voice cracking as she tried to finish her sentence.

"I don't know Piper-,"

"They gotta make him better, they gotta!" She let out a sob and buried her head in my chest, and wrapping her little arms as far around me as they would reach. As she cried I just held her tight and said nothing. She had been though enough in her life that she would have to work though her emotions on her own.

Soon enough she stood up and I told her to get her overnight bag, and come back, I was gonna take her to the hospital when I took Josh to Randy and John. Piper may not need to see Shawn, but she needed to see Hunter and Hunter needed to see his daughter.

**Hunter's PoV**

Tick…. Beep….

Tick…. Beep…. Tick…. Beep…. Tick…. Beep….

I was getting so sick of those noises, all they did was break my concentration and remind me of how much time was passing and what was keeping my Shawn alive. According to the ticks, it has been about five minutes since I got back from the cafeteria Randy had dragged me too. Those fifteen minutes I spent away from Shawn were torture, the whole time I was scared that he was gonna die and I wouldn't be there, or that he would wake up and I wouldn't be there. Be I was here now, and I wasn't planning unless I was forced too. I kept my hand tightly holding on to his, my thumb brushing back and forth against his cold, scared skin. I occasionally broke the continual sounds of "tick and beep" to tell him something or another. Letting him know I was there, that John and Randy were in the waiting room, that Vince was gonna kill him that he would have to rewrite the matches for the next PPV. Anything to keep me from thinking about what my future may hold.

More ticking and beeping as I stay by his side. I'm so tired, I want to close my eyes, but what if I fall asleep and he wakes up? So I fight to stay alert, but with each repeated tick and beep I feel myself sinking deeper into the chair, my hand loosing its grip on his hand but not letting go, never letting go. I scoot the chair as close to the bed as I was able, a laid my head against the back of the chair, my arm resting on Shawn's hard hospital bed, my grip tightens once more around his hand. "I don't care how tired I get Shawn, I'm not letting go of your hand. I don't care." As the ticking and beeping continues my hand is slowly letting the grip falter again and it ends up resting in his as the world around me fades and I am overcome with darkness.

**Shawn's PoV**

I really wish I could move my hand. It feels like something is sitting on top of it, but I can't see what it is, all I see is the darkness. I wish I knew who that voice belongs too, I know it's not mind, my voice is deeper and rougher. This voice is deep, but not anywhere as deep as mine. It sounds so familiar, but I can't place it. I hear it again in the dark air, "…I don't care…." Another voice joins in, my voice.

"_What was that?" _I sound a bit peeved.

"_What was what?" _There it was again, that voice that had been in my ear since I woke up in the wall of darkness.

"_What is that? I'm sorry! I'm sorry? You apologized to Vince McMahon? What is wrong with you?"_

"_Ya I apologized, get off your high horse Shawn-,"_

"_You know something? It didn't matter if we were riding down the highway together or if we were bashing each other brains in, I always had respect for you. You wanna know why? Cause up until **now**, you always had the ability to handle things like a man. What is wrong with you!"_

"_Don't come on all holier than thou to me-"_

"_Oh come on, you basically sold your soul to the devil out there."_

"_I do what I have to do, and if you don't like it, if nobody else likes it, I don't care!"_

"_Why don't you do whatever it is Vince McMahon tells you to do, you sell out!"_ Then our voices faded out. I had no idea what was going on with what I had just heard, but apparently, me and this guy have a history. I hope he's a friend, and if he is, I want him to help me get out of this darkness, I'm getting worried that I'll never find my way out and I'll be stuck here forever.

**Hunter's PoV**

I was startled awake by a shake on my shoulder. I jumped in my chair and my head shot to my left, where I saw John. "Hunter, someone is here to see you."

"Who is it?"

"Can you come to the waiting room for a second?"

"Just tell me who it is John!"

"Your daughter." He said with a small smile, while I felt my heart lift since I heard Shawn had been hurt. I gave Shawn's hand a quick squeeze, told him I'd be back and I ran out of the room, I ran to the door of the waiting room but slowed down to a walk as I went in. I had just entered the door when I saw my angel; she was sitting on Mark's lap. I went further in the room and called out her name. I held my arms out and she slowly climbed off Mark and came to me, she held her hands up when she got to me, indicating she wanted to be picked up, I gladly obliged and pulled her into my arms, held her close my chest. The chest she had buried her face into and was cry on. I walked to a chair and sat down, I was feeling very ran down and weak. I just held her and let her cry. I'd give her as long as she needed. It felt good to be comforting someone. Piper always had a way of helping me deal with things, and just by her needing me was helping me focus on something other than Shawn.

I don't know how long it took for her to come out from hiding, there was no tick and beep here, and look at me. Her green eyes shinning with tears, her cheeks red and tear stained, I gently took her face in my hands and wiped the tears away and kissed her nose, the way Shawn usually would. "Daddy, is he gonna be okay?" she asked, her voice surprisingly steady considering how long she just spent crying. She looked as exhausted as I probably did. I gave her a small smile and answered as honestly as I could.

"I don't know Piper. Daddy is hurt pretty bad. He needs us to be strong for him. If he gets better, we're gonna have to be strong for him, but if he has to go to heaven, we gotta be strong for each other. Daddy wouldn't want us to be sad for him."

"But you don't believe in heaven?" even now she was a smart kid.

"Daddy does, and that's all that matters." She nods and lays her head on my again. We sit there for a few minutes when she raises her head and looks at Mark.

"Uncle Mark, can you say a prayer for daddy, and for us?"

The room goes quiet, and I realize how Shawn dragging her to church every week was going to help her get through this. If it was me in that bed Shawn would say a prayer for me even if I thought it was a waste of time, because it would help him be okay. Mark gave me an uncertain look, but I just nodded my head. John, Randy, Mark, and Josh all moved to sit and stand around us; we joined hands and bowed our head as Mark led us in a prayer. A prayer for Shawn to get better, a prayer for the doctors and nurses tending to him, a prayer for all in the hospital, and a prayer for strength and guidance for those of us who were waiting on God's decision for Shawn.

**Sorry for the delay, but Memorial Day is a very important holiday for me and my family. Many Thank You's to the men and women fighting for our country and those who gave their lives, and to all the hero's everywhere, and anyone who has impacted somebody's life. **


	9. Eight: Hearts and Breaks

Hello, hello! Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89 and TheVampireLucinda for the reviews on the bad filler chapter. It was really a way to get Piper to the hospital and everyone filled in on a few things.

**Note: **Tow PoV changes! A few medical things that are from the net and House M.D. Also, if you will recall from _Piper _I mention how Shawn had to convince Hunter to adopt, that is gonna be mentioned in Shawn's PoV at the end. I'm not too happy with Shawn's PoV, but it's there anyway.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review Cc:

Hunter's PoV

It was late and everyone had to leave. Shawn might be hurt, but Vince wasn't going to let all of them be gone. So, one by one, they all left, leaving me and Piper, who had drifted off to sleep in the waiting room while everyone took turns sitting with Shawn so I could sleep and eat. I hated being away from him, but I knew I had to sleep and eat sometime. I pulled a blanket over Piper's sleeping body and closed the door behind me as I headed off to Shawn's room. I glance at my cell told me it was about 2:30 in the morning, I also had a text from Vince saying he was going to stop by. I also had a voice mail from Russ, my lawyer. One I wasn't looking forward to listing too. I went in his room and sat back down in my chair, and took his hand in mine again. "Hey Shawn, I'm back. All the guys were here and the boss is on his way here too." I knew I wasn't going to get a response, but talking to his like normal helped me deal with him being like this. "Piper's here, she's asleep in the waiting room. I don't know if I should bring her in here or not, it's something I've been thinking on. I'm gonna talk to your doctor tomorrow about getting you transferred back home. As much as I like it here, I need to get Piper back to Texas soon."

I was about to tell him some more random stuff when there was a small knock at the door, I turned and saw Vince at the door, I motioned for him to come in.

"Hey Hunter, how is he?" he asked as he came to a stop beside his bed.

"Not good, they say the next 48 hours are critical, but so far there have been no problems. I just hope it stays that way."

"same here, you are clear from work as long as you need, I can use that fall you took last week and play an injury for you, the same with him. When you come back you'll be working with Jeff and that means if he comes back he'll still be in it with Chris, if Chris is still here by then."

"He'll be back Vince,"

"Hunter, he may not-,"

"He'll be back Vince. He has to come back."

"Hunter, you are going to have to face a fact that he may not be able to come back from this."

"He came back from his back didn't he?"

"But this-,"

"Didn't he?" I interrupt him, aggravation that he doesn't think Shawn will be back in his ring.

"He did, but Hunter, you and I both know that his back was nothing like this. He's barley alive Hunter." I shot out of my chair and stared him in the eye.

"Don't you think I know that!" my voice sounds so loud in this room. My words returning to ring in my ears. "Don't you think that I know how bad he is? I've seen this man every day of my life in the last 28 years, I know that he has a long way to go if he makes it out alive-," and just like that, my anger evaporated. My voice disappeared into the vast silence of the hospital room as I was hit, for the first time since I got here, that Shawn might die, that _my_ Shawn might not make it back in the ring; he might not make it out of Mexico alive.

"He might die Vince." I say as my voice breaks, I turn away from Vince, but my eyes land on Shawn's still form, and I close my eyes and hold my breath, wanting the tightness in my chest to go away. I hand on my shoulder helps me regain my composure and I turn back to my boss. "I'm sorry Vince, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"It's okay Hunter, if I saw my Linda like this, I would probably yell too."

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Not all. You have said anything but I know it happened. I had no idea that Stephanie would file a custody suit against you two. I tried to stop it, but by the time I found out about it, it was too late. I can tell you my lawyers are good, the best. I know yours are good too, but I don't know Hunter. You need to be very cautious with everything you do until this is over. Since you and Shawn are not technically married she had to challenge both of you. So even if Shawn losses her, Steph still has to challenge you. I'm afraid that with Shawn in this condition, and the reason behind him being like this, Shawn doesn't stand a snowballs chance in hell. The law is not in favor of putting a child in a home of an alcoholic-,"

"Shawn's not-,"

"Yes his is Hunter, at least at the moment. We both know how long he's been drinking. It's just like the old days all over again. He was fighting with me over every little thing, being pushy and rude to the others around him. We both know what he was like back then." Vince stopped what he was saying and let out a sigh. "Look, all I'm saying is watch yourself. My lawyers play hard ball, they will use anything they can to take that little girl away from you. Shawn may not have a chance right now, but you do." And with that, Vince walked over to Shawn, squeezed his hand and said get better, then he came back to me, placed his hand on my shoulder and said, "Get some sleep, call me when you get him back to San Antonio." And out the door he went. Leaving me with even more I had to think about.

When I heard the door shut behind him I sat back down in the chair and just looked at Shawn's body. Vince was right. As much as I hated it, he was right. If Shawn woke up, there would be a chance that he wouldn't have custody of Piper. As much as I hated to even think about it, Shawn may be a hindrance if I have a chance of keeping Piper. As I thought about the weeks to come, a date popped into my head. Shawn and I are supposed to get re-married two weeks from now, when we were back in San Antonio for the tour. I would have to chance that. Who knows if Shawn would even be alive in two weeks? No, I couldn't think that way. Shawn would be alive in two weeks, Shawn would make it out of this, he would be back in the ring kicking Jericho all over the place, and we would get married and have our little family back together again. We had been though too much to get to this point that I refused to give up without a fight.

Stephanie's PoV

"My feet hurt, would you mind?" I ask as I prop my feet on Chris Jericho's lap.

"Not at all," he says as he begins to rub my sore feet, working in heels all day as a bitch. "Did you hear about Michaels?"

"Ugh, don't mention that name to me."

"Oh, I think you'll want to hear about this one, he's in the hospital." I perked up and look at Jericho's oddly shaped face.

"Excuse me?"

"Yea, apparently after the meeting and our little…talk, he was so pissed he went to some bar, got totally trashed, and walked right out in front of a car. I heard he's in a coma, but that could just be a rumor."

"Shame the rumor mill is full of lies, but at least he's out of the picture for a while, give the crowds some else to cheer for." I say as I shoot him a smile, but I was jumping with joy at the news. If that little bastard was in a coma my chances of getting the brat were even better. But even better for me would be if he really was as trashed as Chris made him out to be. It was no big secret that Shawn had been drinking again, only an idiot would think some minty gum would cover the smell of Vodka. I may have caught my break. I really didn't want the brat, I wanted Hunter. I heard jealousy made people do crazy stuff; I never realize how true that was till now.

I don't know what possessed me to make the claim that Hunter and Shawn were bad parents; on the contrary, they were amazing parents. But that girl was always causing problems. When Hunter left Shawn, I was my chance to get who I wanted, but he would put me off all because of her. But that was nothing compared to how I felt when I saw Hunter with _him_. I couldn't believe it, they were divorced, done, but I should've known it wouldn't last. Each time I was with Hunter after he met Shawn felt nothing like when I was with him before Shawn. That redneck hick had taken the man I had always wanted. I was Stephanie McMahon, and I always got what I wanted, and I would have Hunter Helmsley, no matter the cost.

Hunter's PoV

The hours were ticking by and I had to get back to Piper. I stood up from the chair and stretched my muscles. I leaned down and kissed Shawn's bandaged forehead and as I turned to leave the room was filled with loud beeps, before I even got turned back to look at him the room was filled with people, I was being forced out the door and it was slammed in my face. I stood paralyzed with fear as the beeping turned into a solid long beep. I tried to get back in the room but I was pushed back as the door swung open and smacked me in the nose, as I felt my blood flow I saw them taking Shawn down the hall, the people around his bed running very fast, I tired to follow but I saw stopped by a very tall man, he grabbed a hold of my arm and said, "Let the doctors do their job, I need to take a look at that nose." And he led me down the hallway, in the opposite direction they had taken Shawn.

"What going on with Shawn?"

"I'm not too sure, his heart stopped beating, now it could be contributed to a variety of things, so don't panic, our cardiac surgeon is the best." The nurse, who's name is Robert, says as he wipes the blood from my face, and hands me a rag to hold under my nose as he gently pinches it.

"Ow!" I say as I try to pull away form him.

"I think it's broken, but from the size of this thing, I'm thinking this isn't the first time it's been broken."

"No, it's broken three other times."

"We'll, get this thing x-rayed and then we'll go from there," he says as he has me lay back on a table and he pulls the machine close to my face. After a few pictured he pushes it away and helps me sit up. Slowly the bleeding stops and I wipe my face again to remove any blood. The x-rays confirmed it was broken again. Robert put that annoying white wrap on it, taped it down, and sent me back to the waiting room. I still hadn't heard anything about Shawn, and it's been almost half an hour.

As I walked through the door of the closed off section of the waiting room I saw that Piper was still sound asleep, but I knew there would be no way I could sleep, not until I knew what was going on with Shawn. I sat down next to Piper's head and I just stared out the door and stroked her red hair. I remember how bright red it was when we first got her, but since then, her hair has taken on a bunch of blonde highlights, making the color less dramatic. I rest my head against the back of the couch and try not to let my mind think the worst. Robert had said his heart stopped, that was not a good thing. I needed to know what was happing to him. I hated being left in the dark, and that's just what was happing right now.

As the minutes past by, it was getting harder and harder not to freak out, it had been almost two hours since he was rushed from the room. In that time, Piper had drifted further into sleep, while I couldn't close my eyes. More time past, I was so close to getting up and demanding an explanation as the door opened and a doctor I had never seen before pocked his head in the doorway. I motioned for him to come in. Piper was totally out and it would take a train to wake her up right now. The doctor walked in and sat down in a chair across from me and extended his hand. "Mr. Helmsley, I'm Dr. Martin, the cardiac doctor on call tonight."

"Nice to meet you, and Hunter please. What happened with Shawn?"

"His heart stopped beating. When they couldn't restart his heart they made a call down to me and brought him to me. I'm gonna save a bunch of medical jargon and tell you the basics. Shawn had a heart attack; one we believe was brought on by his alcohol addiction."

"I thought heart attacks were caused by age and a bad heart?" I had never heard of alcohol being a cause of a heart attack.

"Studies show that prolonged exposure to high quantities of alcohol can increase the risk of heart attack, and that's what we believe caused Shawn's even though we cant prove that as a fact, it is a major possibility. With Shawn's age, gender, and medical history, there is a chance that this could happen again. I read in his medical file that you are from San Antonio Texas, is it your desire to get him back to Southwest General?"

"If it can be done safely, I want him close to home, so she doesn't have to be in a waiting room and his parents can be there. Plus that's where all his doctors are and, it would just be better with him there."

"It is, of course, something you're going to have to speak to his attending first, but I see no reason why he can not be transferred. More than likely he will be life-flighted there, but at least he'll be there." I nod my head and Dr. Marin excused himself and left the room. But before he left he turned back to me and said, "There is a kind nurse on duty named Janelle who would not mind keeping an eye on your girl if you want to see Shawn. He should be set back up in his by now. Should I tell her to come?"

"That would be great, but only if she is free, I don't want to take up her time."

"No problem, Janelle practically lives here; her husband is always on call."

"What does he do?"

"He's the cardiac surgeon." He said with a smile and he left the room. I felt myself give a small smile, the first I've had since this happened.

A few minutes later a middle aged woman with straight black hair walked into the room. "Mr. Helmsley, I'm Janelle, if you want me to keep an eye on her while you go see your husband I can." I stood up, placed a kiss on Piper's check and offered my hand to the lady. "Call me Hunter, and her name is Piper, if you need to leave at any time just tell me, I don't want to get you in trouble or interfere with your duties-,"

"I'm not on call, I'm just waiting for my husband to get off, we always do breakfast on Tuesday mornings. I'll get you if she wakes up. Shawn is back in his room so you can go see him." I nod my head and leave the room.

Walking back into Shawn's room I feel an overwhelming sense of dread. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since the accident and his heart had already stopped beating. They had acted fast and kept him alive, but how badly would this affect his recovery process. I sat back down on the chair and took his hand and sighed. I would have no answers until tomorrow when his attending doctor came back. I looked at Shawn's face, and if it was at all possible, he looked even more weak and tired now than before. I scooted the chair closer and started talking to him again.

"I should've spoken up a long time ago Shawn, but better late than never." I take a breath and continue. "How could you start drinking again? What were you thinking? We both know how you get when you do. Now look at you!" I stop and calm back down, yelling at him wont help him get better, it will just cause him stress, not good for him. "When you get better, I'm gonna smack you around a little bit on national TV, teach you a lesson." I sigh again and drop my head against his muscled arm. "Damn it Shawn, you could've died on me just then. You cant do that Shawn. I need you here. Piper needs you here, if I'm not a good enough reason for you to fight, think of her, think of your daughter, think of Piper." I stop talking and close my eyes. I wish he could hear me. I want to hear his voice so badly it hurts. I hold his hand tighter and sit in the room that's filled with the steady ticking of the clock and the constant beeping of the machines attached to the man I'd give my life for.

Shawn's PoV

Ow. That's all I could think right now was ow. If I was hurting before it was nothing compared to now. My chest felt on fire and everything was tingling. The pressure on my hand had come and gone several times since I found myself here, in this dark, silent place of nightmares and nothingness. It seemed that every now and then I would hear something, but every time I tried to respond or go to it, I was held down by pain and invisible bonds that allowed me to do nothing. The only upside was that a little bit ago the darkness wasn't as thick as it was not, there wasn't any light, but it was lighter somehow. But that had long since past. I don't know what caused it, but I wish it would happen again. I felt the pressure on my hand return. It was confusing to me. There was nothing there, but yet there was.

"…if I'm not a good enough reason for you to fight, think of her, think of your daughter, think of Piper." There was that voice again! I was really getting annoyed with hearing it but having no idea who it belonged too. Every time I heard it I felt warm in the coldness of the dark, but with the voice often came visions of things that I couldn't recall, but my voice was a part of. And it was happening again. The word 'Piper' caused even more warmth to flood over me, and I heard my voice drift over my mind.

"_Hunter, we would make great parents, why wont you even consider it?"_ again I sound annoyed, and who was Hunter?"

"_I don't want to talk about it anymore Shawn, I said no, end of story."_ Again, there was that voice, but now I had a name. The voice belonged to some guy named Hunter, and apparently his annoyed me a lot.

"_Yes, but when do I ever listen to you when you give me the answer I don't want."_

"_It's not gonna happen Shawn."_

"_Why? Why do you not even want to consider the idea? Randy and John are the happiest I've ever seen them. Don't you want that too?"_

"_I don't want a kid Shawn. I'd be a horrid father. I would probably screw the kid up, I refuse to do that."_

"_Right there is proof you will be a good parent." _Now I sound smug, and why were me and this Hunter person talking about being parents?"

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You're afraid of messing up, and we don't even have a kid yet! Please Hunter, can we just look into it?"_

"_Fine Shawn, we can look into it. But I'm not making any promises Shawn. Looking does not mean it's happing."_

"_Don't worry Hunter, once we find the perfect match you're never gonna want to let our child go."_

Well that was an odd vision to say the least. These things would float through my head, only sounds. No pictures of details about anything. Only the voices. Each vision brought on more questions, who was Hunter, why were we fighting over kids, who were John and Randy? I wanted my answers but I knew I wouldn't get them trapped here. As much as I hated the thought, because fighting with the dark, cold, and bonds always make me hurt, and the hurt always made me want to quit and let it all go. But if I wanted my answers I would have to fight.


	10. Nine: Taking Its Toll

Hello, hello! Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89 and TheVampireLucinda for the reviews, they keep me motivated so much it's not even funny. Thanks to all who read and subscribe

**Note: **Soo…this chapter is short, but I couldn't make it longer until I come to a decision about where I want this story to go. This happens to me with everything I write, I have two ways I could take the story and I can't decide which way to take it. But if I can't make up my mind by Monday, I'm gonna flip a coin. I hope everyone likes this chapter, and sorry if I keep making Hunter seem like a dick. All the medical information is from the net and House M.D.

**Also**: Haven't mentioned it in a while, but I was re-reading my last few chapters and there were SO many typos popping out at me I wanted to scream. I try to proof read my work, but I obviously cant catch everything, and while it hasn't been brought up, it just bugs me, so I'm gonna say it, I don't have anyone proof reading this stuff besides myself, so please forgive any and all errors. Thank you very much

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review Cc:

Hunter's PoV

The sound of a door closing jolted me out of my sleep, but with the fast movement of my neck came a sharp pain shooting through it. I had fallen asleep in the chair with my face on Shawn's bed and my hand wrapped tightly around his hand. As I released his hand and gingerly moved my cramped fingers a nurse was checking on all of Shawn's readings. According to the clock it was six in the morning that meant Shawn's doctor would be in. "Excuse me?" the nurse turns towards me with a smile, and I see its Janelle from last night.

"Good morning Hunter, Piper is in the cafeteria with a friend of mine and Shawn's doctor is on his way here to speak with you." I just smile back and blink. This woman is good.

"Well, I guess I don't need to ask you anything." She just nods.

"His brain activity is increasing, and his fingers are twitching, but that's not uncommon for coma patience, but at least it's something." She jots a few things down on her board and turns to leave the room.

I sit up straighter and rub my hands over my face. I flip my cell open and see I have two voice mails and three missed calls from Russ. I sigh and press the number one and let my lawyer's voice ring in my ears.

"Hunter, its Russ Harlow. I'm calling about your case," I hear some paper's rustling, "I've spoken with Adam and we've looking into a few things. As you very well know, you and Shawn are not married, that's why you both got severed-," I knew that, "-and in light of recent events regarding Shawn's personal problems I would strongly advise you to remain unmarried until this is over. I know you and he were going to get remarried, but in the best interest of this lawsuit, I strongly suggest against it. I also need to have Shawn's current medical records sent to me. I received a copy of the official accident report from the Mexico police and that is another problem that will affect this. Since I am your lawyer, I suggest that Adam and I not pursue this together, let me defend my client and Adam defend his. The reason being is, I will have more luck if I'm defending you. Adam is going to have a hard time convincing a judge that Shawn is a good parent, given his current situation with the substance abuse. Call me back when you've thought about it, the sooner the better." And the voice mail ended. The second voice mail was just Russ reminding me to call him when I was able. I deleted the second one and saved the first.

I closed my cell and tossed my head back. Trying to keep from feeling very overwhelmed and focusing on getting Shawn back to Texas, that was the first thing on my checklist. A few minutes later the door opened and Dr. Flaker walked in the room. He shook my hand and took a look at Shawn's chart. "Okay Hunter, do you have any questions for me?"

"Yes, I would like to transfer Shawn back to Texas, to Southwest General Hospital."

"I figured you might, but before you make your decision about that, we need t consider the risks in moving his in this condition. Shawn has only had one problem since he came here, he hasn't seized or lost brain function, but one thing going wrong in his transfer can change all of that."

"It's more than just me wanting to be back home, it's better for his family, his parents and brothers, our daughter can get back to her life, she needs to be home, it's not healthy for her to be here in this hospital all the time, but I'm not leaving Shawn."

"Would his parents be willing to take her back home?"

"Is there any time that you would suggest moving him?" I ask, skirting around his question.

"After he wakes up. I know it's not what you want to hear, but moving Shawn while he is in this state is very dangerous." I don't know if I let out a noise or if he could just tell, but he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Look Hunter, I understand how frustrating this is for you, believe me, but you have to do what is right for Shawn and his health." I nodded, he gave my shoulder a squeeze and walked towards the door. "I'll give you a few minutes then I'll come back in and we can talk some more, okay?" I nod and he leaves the room.

But a few minutes after he leaves, I realize that I can't stay in the room either. I get up and rush out the door, without telling him I'd be right back. I can't pretend that he can hear me anymore; I can't pretend that he'll be okay. Cause even if he wakes up right now, I wouldn't be able to get him better before it would be too late to keep Piper. I run to the waiting room where Piper and I have all our stuff, I gather it all up as I pull out my cell phone and call a taxi to meet me outside the hospital. I toss all the bags over my shoulder and I head down to the cafeteria. I quickly spot Piper; I just grab her hand and lead her away from the nurse who was watching her. I hit the lobby button on the elevator. I have to get Piper home. If I even want a chance to keep Piper, I have to leave Shawn behind, alone in the bed he made for himself.

Shawn's PoV

The pressure on my hand is gone, and the darkness feels heavier than normal. I still hurt all over, but now I was feeling so run down I just wanted to quit whatever it was I was fighting to get to. There was no sound right now for some reason; nothing was ringing in my brain. I felt surprisingly alone without the voices. Through them I discovered a few things, there was a person named Hunter who appeared to aggravate me and make me feel happy at the same time. I have no idea who this person is, but up until now, he was always there. I wish I knew why I wasn't hearing the voice, or feeling the pressure on my hand. For some reason the absence was causing me to shake.

No PoV

The monitors were beeping erratically fast and the once still body was convulsing on the bed, sending the blankets to the floor. Nurses and a doctor flooded into the room and surrounded the bed. "He's seizing!"

"Call the O.R. we gotta get that pressure off his brain!"

"Okay, we need to get him there fast!"

Mark's PoV

Once the show was over, I did some talking to Jeff, Matt, Glenn, Kofi, and Evan about making a quick stop by the hospital before we headed to our next stop to see Hunter. He looked like he was close to the end of his rope when we left last night. We all woke up around six in the morning and Harrison, our bus driver, was pulling out of the parking lot we had parked in last night to sleep. It would take about fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. I rolled myself off the pullout sofa, careful not to wake Kofi and Evan up, but Evan was almost impossible considering he had fallen asleep on the floor during the moving last night. I stepped around him and turned the bed back into the couch, walked over to the kitchen, grabbed a beagle and spread some cream cheese on it before I sat back on the couch.

About five minutes past I heard a thud followed by a curse. Glenn hit his head again. He should've slept on the couch, it's the only thing long enough for him to sleep on comfortably, but he won the massive rock, paper, scissors contest we had to decide who slept where. I think on the way back we're gonna do it by age. One by one Matt and Glenn walked out from where the beds were. Glenn rubbing his head and Matt texting, I swear his skin from his hand is gonna grow around that thing. They sit after grabbing breakfast beside me, taking up the couch, and waking up Evan and Kofi, meaning everyone was awake but Jeff, not an uncommon occurrence.

The bus pulled up outside the main doors of the hospital and we all got off as Harrison drove the bus around the block until we were ready to leave. I led the group to where Shawn's room was, but before I even got close to the door it was swung open and all I saw was a bunch of people in scrubs and a bed being rushed down the hall way. I was expecting to see Hunter, but I didn't. He must still be asleep, I thought to myself. But when I rounded the corner and looked into the waiting room, but I didn't see any of his stuff, as a matter of fact, the furniture didn't even look like anyone had been there.

I went back to the hallway and stopped the first nurse I saw. "Excuse me, there was a man and his little girl who slept in the room last night, do you know where he is?"

"He took his little girl from the cafeteria a few minutes ago; he had all his bags with him, so I assume he's going back to his hotel." Without replying I took out my phone and dialed the taxi service, demanding a cab be outside when I got there, I yelled at Glenn to come with me and for the other's to stay where they were. Glenn followed without question as I took off down the stairs and out the doors of the hospital. We got in the cab, when asked where to I replied, "The airport, and move it!"

...EEhhh...Like I said, I make him seem like a dick! please review!


	11. Ten: We Came Togeather, Fell Apart

Hello, hello! Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Paula may busby, Clayhammer 1000, Sonib89 and TheVampireLucinda for the reviews. I say this every time, but I really do appreciate them. I love reading them and I love just knowing that you are enjoying my writing. Much love and thanks to all whom favorite my stories as well!

**Note: **I'm sorry about the long wait, but I had a very hard time deciding where I wanted to take this story. I ended up writing a chapter for the three directions I had in mind, and this is the one I decided on. I doubt Kevin Nash has a permit to marry people or whatever, but I gave him one anyway.

**Also**, Out of all the chapters I have written, I am the most nervous about this one. It was difficult to write and I seriously thought about doing a different one because I am very worried about it. So any reviews I get I will be very grateful for them.

**BTW, **There is still a lot to go in this story, but I'm tossing around ideas in my brain about what I should do after I finish this story, this is going to be the last story I do with Piper for now, so if there is anything you would like me to do, let me know.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review Cc:

Hunter's PoV

"Daddy, where are we going? What about dada?" I couldn't answer her; my head was spinning in every direction but straight. As the cab drove though the traffic towards the airport and a plane that would take me and my daughter home, I hated leaving Shawn the way I had, but I couldn't loose Piper. "Daddy, where are we going?"

"We're going home baby."

"Why? What about dada?" she asked sounding panicked.

"He'll be okay where he is, right now though, I need to get you back home and you're gonna go stay with papa Ric till dada gets better okay?"

"Where are you gonna be?" I was relieved when the cab pulled up outside the airport and I wouldn't have to answer her question. But as I stepped from the cab I caught a glimpse of an extremely blonde head of hair out of the corner of my eye, and he spotted me too. I tell Piper to stay in the car and block her view as Ric walks towards us. "What are you doing here?" I ask, trying to keep him from asking me the same thing.

"I may not be in the game anymore but I still have friends and I heard about Shawn. But I think I should be asking you the same question. Shawn is still in the hospital, so why aren't you there?"

"I was just-,"

"Just gonna leave him there. I don't think so, so get back in the cab right now." Ric said pointing his finger towards the cab I had just gotten out of. "And where is my grandbaby?"

"Ric, you really don't know-,"

"And right now I don't want to hear it either, get back in that cab." His blue eyes seemed hard steel instead of the softness I had always seen since his retirement.

"Ric, I need to get home, and I need to get Piper home."

"You can tell me why when we get back to the hospital now move." He said taking a step closer to me.

"I can't go back!" I say as I slam the door of the cab closed and then I hit the roof and lean against the warm metal. I take deep breaths trying to regain my composure. I feel a hand placed on my shoulder.

"Look Champ, I don't know what's all going on here, but I can tell you something, running away from Shawn and whatever else you're running from is not going to help anything here." He squeezes my shoulder and pulls me away from the cab. "Now open that door and let's go back to your better half." I have no choice but to do exactly what he says.

Mark's PoV

"What the hell!"

"Is that Ric?"

"Yes it's Ric your moron!"

"Why are you mad at me? Ric got him to go back."

"Because Glenn, I wanted to punch some sense into his thick skull." I huff as I walk back to the same cab I had just dropped twenty bucks in, just to go right back to where I came from and I didn't get to do a damn thing. "Ric may have let him off, but I'm sure as hell not." I slam the door shut and back to the hospital we go.

Thanks to traffic we make it back at the same time Ric and Hunter do. I see Ric got out just as I did, since our cab was right behind theirs, he spotted me quickly. "Mar, you old dog, why are you still here? Aren't you guys supposed to be to Texas or something?"

"No, there's a stop about three hours away form here, but with Shawn here, we decided to make a pit stop. I guess you heard about Shawn?"

"Yea, Phil called." He stepped aside so Hunter could get out of the car, his face was stone, no emotion. Griping his hand was a nervous looking Piper, Ric took the initiative and got down on his knees, as I blocked Hunter's path away from him. I just stared Hunter down, daring him to make a move as Ric and Piper got back in the cab after Glenn pulled out the bags from the trunk and shut the door. Piper needed to get away from everything, but Hunter needed a good dose of reality.

"It's a good thing your nose is already broken you son of a bitch or I'd break it for ya."

"What the hell is your problem now Mark?" he says as he brushes past me and picks up the bag and moves to go back into the hospital, I grab his arm and make him face me again.

"You wanna tell me why the hell you we're gonna leave him all alone in the bed, possibly his death bed?"

"None of your damn business." He tried to get free, but I squeeze his arm tighter.

"You see, that's where you're wrong Hunter. You see, while you and the million dollar whore were getting it on, I was left watching Shawn fall apart. I was the one who had to tuck your kid in bed because you were busy and Shawn was passed out on the floor. When I end up taking care of someone's kid that's not my responsibility, anything involving that kid becomes my business. So you damn well better tell me what the hell was going through that thick skull of yours."

"I have nothing to say to you Mark, I already paid the price for my mistake a thousand times over, and I'm getting very sick of having to say sorry for something that didn't even affect you."

"Didn't affect me? Are you brain damaged? Ask your daughter the next time you see her who she saw more of during that time? Ask her!" when I say him roll his eyes and let out an annoyed growl I couldn't hold my tongue back anymore. "I don't know why the hell Shawn left her with you when he went to rehab, a gorilla would be a better parent than you!"

*BAM*

My grip on his arm faltered and my back hit the pavement as a burning pain shot through my chin. I looked up into the burning eyes of the man who five seconds ago looked like a statue. "If you ever say a damn word about my parenting again I'll make sure you never see Piper again." And just like that, he walked into the hospital, leaving me flat on my back outside the glass doors, wondering what I had said that had set him off like that.

Hunter's PoV

The walk to Shawn's room wasn't long enough to calm me down, but walking in it and not seeing him or his bed there was enough to kill the anger and send me into a panic. I rushed out of his room and towards the burses station. I skidded to a stop and asked, "Shawn Michaels, where is he? He's not in his room." the nurse started punching in something on her computer, but with each key typed I felt the anger come back, I wanted to know where the hell he was!

"Mr. Michaels is in surgery right now." And the anger was gone again, and back was the panic.

"Surgery? Why! Since when?"

"I'm afraid I don't have that information for you sir, but if you will go join the rest of his family in the waiting room the doctor will be with you shortly." And she walked away from the station, leaving me confused. Family? I know for a fact that Shawn's parents weren't gonna be here, they were in the same boat as Mark when it came to us getting back together, but then again, Shawn was in very bad shape. I slowly made my way to the waiting room I had slept. I saw Jeff, Matt, Kofi, and Evan. When I walked in the room Jeff stood up and walked over to me.

"Hey man, have you heard anything?" I just shook my head no, and sat down.

"Why are you guys here, shouldn't you be on a bus right now?"

"We were, but Mark wanted to make a put stop, so did the rest of us, we all care about Shawn as much as you do." Said Matt as he handed me a cup of weak hospital coffee. And we waited.

As the time ticked by Mark made his way in, pressing ice on his now swollen jaw. Good, he deserved every throb. He sat by Glenn who had followed him in who was sitting by Matt. More time ticked by and Ric came in with Piper, and she went to Mark to see why he was holding ice. "What happened Uncle Mark?" she asked, reaching her hand out to move the ice so she could see the bruise.

"Nothing baby, I was just being clumsy, what did you and papa Ric do?"

"He took me to get some fried ice cream, it was pretty good. When Dada gets better we're gonna take him to get some." When she said that I saw a sad smile spread over Mark's face, but my heart just clenched painfully.

"He'll like that baby, give me a hug." She happily gave him one, and then she walked over to me and crawled on my lap. When I looked down at her she had a small smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" I asked, trying to sound better than I felt.

"Dada is gonna laugh at you when he gets better."

"Why is that?"

"You got beat up by a door." And for some reason, that little bit of funny honesty lightened the mood in the room and when nobody was paying attention because they were fighting over the TV channel, I apologized to Mark.

"Sorry for hitting you, now is no the time to dwell on the past, but to hope for the future.

"I think you and I need to talk somewhere else." I just nodded and motioned for him to follow me.

We ended up standing outside the elevators. "You wanna tell me what possessed you to hit me."

"You insulted my parenting."

"So, I do it all the time, plus I was only saying it out of anger, I think you're a great father."

"Shawn and I are being sued for parental rights to Piper by the million dollar whore."

"What?" he said, his face a picture of shock.

"Yea, we got the papers a week ago. And my lawyer is saying Shawn is more of a hindrance to my case than an asset."

"But you and Shawn got sued, why does it matter?"

"Two different cases, since Shawn and I are not married right now. I didn't know what to do Mark! It was getting hard to concentrate and breathe. I need Shawn and I need my daughter, and I can't keep one and risk loosing the other. He's in a coma, he wouldn't know, and when he wakes up he'd understand. He'd would of left me here too if it meant keeping our daughter!"

"But what if he didn't wake up?"

"He's gonna wake up Mark, but now you know why I tried to leave!" I held my breath and leaned against the wall, I had to keep it together, I couldn't afford to fall apart. But when strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me tight against a warm chest I couldn't help it. All my walls of bravery and manliness crumbled and fell with each wet, salty tear that fell from my eyes.

"Hunter, why didn't you tell me what was going on?" he asked as he tightened his arms around me.

"I don't know, I guess we were gonna wait and see what our lawyers said, but now, I wish we would've told you sooner too. I can't loose her Mark. I-I need m-m-my child." I just closed my eyes, squeezing them tightly shut, trying to keep it all in, but the warm arms around me were making it difficult.

"Don't talk right now, you just need to breath."

Shawn's PoV

The darkness was fading and I was able to move. I just kept walking, and with each step I heard so many different voices and many different things happening.

"_Here is your winner, and the new WWF champion, The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels!" followed by a deafening roar of who knows how many different people._

That was followed by another one as I moved further from where I had been stuck for who knew how long.

"_I now pronounce you husband and husband, you may now kiss and annoy us all."_

"_Shut up Kevin!" _that was Hunter's voice, but he sounded happy, not annoyed or angry as I had heard him in the past. _"You sure you wanna do this Shawn?"_

"_It's a little too late to ask me that, I didn't sit through dozens of fittings to back out now!" _I sound so happy, from what I gather, it must've been my wedding day.

This was followed by yet another series of voices.

"_We get to adopt her!" _Holy crap, I sound like I just won the lottery.

"_Really?" _He sounds surprised.

"_Yes, she's ours, all we have to do is pick her up! Can you believe it Hunter, after all this time we finally get to have a family! We're having a girl!"_

"_I'm happy to Shawn, let's go pick her up as soon as we can, let's leave tomorrow!"_

"_I can't wait to meet her, our own little Piper." _

Before another can hit me, I'm blinded by a bright light and I see a woman with fiery red hair and bright green eyes.

Hunter's PoV

I don't know how long we stayed there, Mark just holding me in his arms, but slowly my tears dried up and my mind cleared. I pulled away from Mark, and I felt like I did before I was sent on this roller coaster ride. "Thank you Mark, I-I'm really sorry I hit you."

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't the first and it won't be the last either." I shake my head and rub my hands over my face. We slowly go back to the waiting room. As more time passed, my nervousness was slowly coming back to the surface. I was getting ready to stand up and start doing something, but there was a knock on the door and I saw Dr. Flaker standing there in his scrubs, looking very tired. "Hunter, I need to speak to you?" I slowly stood up, but I was joined by Mark, I was grateful that he was gonna be there. "Do you want him here?" Dr. Flaker asked when we reached the door.

"Yes, he's family." He nodded and we followed him down the hallway towards a waiting room I didn't know was there. We walked in and he closed the door behind us. "Please have a seat." We sat down, Mark kept a grip on me as Dr. Flaker started to talk.

"I'm sorry Hunter, but we lost him."

Shawn's PoV

I was mesmerized by those eyes, they seemed so familiar to me. "Shawn, I'm Ann Smith." I was then hit by a thousand and one memories, my whole life came back to me. My parents, growing up in Texas, my struggle to get to the WWE, my amazing career, making friends with my Hunter Helmsley, our growing friendship, marrying the man of my dreams, watching us grow as a family, the decision to adopt, a beautiful green eyed little girl filling our lives with purpose. Then I saw our family fall apart, I saw my spiral back into a bottle, my choice to go to rehab, then my decision to go back to Hunter, I saw my secret, I saw what it did to me, and I was the red car crash into my stumbling body. I gasped and tried to stay upright. Ann came closer to me. "Now you remember, I am your guide here Shawn."

"But you're dead." I say, trying to make the pieces of this puzzle connect.

"I want to thank you Shawn, for looking after my daughter. She deserved more than the life she was born into, you and Hunter gave her that. I hope that it continues."

"What's going on?"

"This is the end Shawn, I'm dead, and so are you."

**So…there it is, my decision for the story. It was very hard to do, but I think it was the most realistic outcome for a person with that amount of injuries. Please let me know what you think.**


	12. Eleven: With The Angels

Hello, hello! Chapter Eleven

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and Key for the reviews. They were **sooo** appreciated, I was very worried about last chapter. It broke my heart to kill him, it really did, but I just figured it's the more realistic outcome for such a thing.

**Note: **There will be three more Shawn PoV's, but they wont be for a while, so enjoy the last one. I cant have a dead guy have his own PoV, because it's like he's not dead, just in loop. There is a _Pet Sematary_ reference because I love the book and the movie, and if you havent read or seen it, you need to!

**Warning:** The F-word is in this chapter. Also, how I make the afterlife stuff for Shawn is just something I did to help the story along, I mean no offense to anybody.

**PLEASE ENJOY**

And review

[Shawn's PoV]

"What do you mean, like I'm dead, dead!"

"Afraid so Shawn." I wished I was back in the suffocating darkness; I don't want to believe what is right in front of me.

"I don't believe this is happening, if I'm dead, then where are all the other dead people? I know I'm not the only one!"

"Consider this a waiting room of sorts, this is where you can say your final goodbyes Shawn, but there is a catch."

"Of course there is, but hey, who am I to argue with a ghost, I mean, look at what happened to Louis Creed in _Pet Sematary_ when he didn't listen to his ghost dude."

"Shawn, you need to focus-,"

"Focus! You're telling me to focus! I'm freaking dead! I don't know how else to treat this, so I choose to make light of it."

"Why?" for some reason, that one word broke the thin hold I had over my emotions.

"I can't be dead. I have a little girl I have to take care of, I have my own wedding I have to be there for it, I cannot, I will not except that I'm dead!"

"Denial will get you no where, and it will make this process worse for you."

"I can't be dead, I'm needed at home."

"It's time to say goodbye Shawn. You get three minutes with three people. Choose wisely Shawn. I'll meet you when you're done."

Then she was gone, the place I was in was filled with a fog that surrounded me, this must be where I made my decision on who I should see…

[Hunter's PoV]

"I'm sorry Hunter, but we lost him." my mind was blank, I felt a burning sensation behind my wide open eyes; my ragged, uneven breaths were making my lightheaded. "Hunter, Hunter you need to calm down." I heard what he said, but I couldn't obey. My Shawn could not be dead; it was all some sick joke. I felt hands on me, I felt trapped. I surged away from them, I ran out the door, down the stairs and out the glass doors, letting them slam behind me as I ran away from the cruel truth reality had just shoved in my face. I kept running and running, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, nor did I care. I just had to get away.

I ran until I couldn't breathe anymore, and I just fell onto the sidewalk, ignoring all the annoyed and curious looks shot my way. I put my head between my kegs and tried to catch my breath. _"I'm sorry Hunter, but we lost him." _why wouldn't the voice leave my head! Shawn wasn't dead, he _couldn't_ be dead!" the burning behind my eyes was back, and this time I just let the hot tears flow from my eyes. The reality shoved in my face was finally hitting me, my Shawn was gone. I put my arms on top of my head and rocked myself back and forth. Trying not to break down in the middle of where ever the hell I was. It wasn't helping! I stuffed some of my shirt in my mouth and bit down hard, fighting with myself to keep from screaming.

I felt myself being pulled against something soft and warm. "It'll be okay Hunter. I'm so sorry." Mark figured he would follow me. I just shook my head no.

"No it won't be okay Mark. I can't do this by myself. I can't do it without Shawn." More tears fell on his shirt. "I can't go on without him. Even when he was fucked up he helped me!" he just tightened his grip around me, more tears soaked into his shirt. "What am I gonna do Mark? What am I gonna do without him?"

"You're gonna do what you do best Hunter. You're gonna toughen up and get through this. You can't give up Hunter. You have a little girl that is about to get her little heart ripped to shreds, you can't give up."

"How am I gonna do this alone? Shawn-he always knew what to do-where I-I just-I just have no idea!"

"You'll find a way Hunter; you have no choice but to find away."

[Mark's PoV]

"I'm sorry Hunter, but we lost him." I felt the world stop spinning and everything come to a stand still. I only had a split second to get a grip on myself as I heard Hunter struggle to breath. I placed an arm around his shoulders as the doctor tried to get him to calm down, but before I knew it he was up and out the door. I quickly followed. As he ran away from the hospital I kept a pace close behind him, and just let him run as far as he needed before he collapsed in a heap on the hot concrete. I stayed back for a few minutes, letting what we had just heard sink in, and when it did, I was right there by his side, a place I knew I would at for a long time to come. Hunter would need help to get through this.

I don't know how long we sat there, but eventually he stopped crying and was just sitting up beside me, the both of us still ignoring the looks we received by the passerby's. "We gotta go back don't we?" he asked, his voice sounding empty.

"Yes."

"We gotta go back and I have to tell my baby girl that her dada is dead."

"Yes."

"God give me strength." Then he was up on his feet, his hands tucked into his pockets and his strides short and slow, he was purposely slowing our journey back to the hospital down.

We get back to the hospital and I've kept an eye on Hunter the whole time, and he kept his eyes straight ahead, his hands never left his pockets and his steps never quickened or got longer. We walked back through the glass doors again, but we didn't take the stairs this time as we had done in the past. No, instead we stood and waited for the elevator to pick us up. When the metal doors slid closed Hunter leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He pulled his left hand from his pocket and he kept his steely eyes locked on the gold band that wrapped around his ring finger. The ring that Shawn had given them on their wedding day so long ago, the ring Hunter never took off, even during their divorce. Soon we arrived on our floor; Hunter stuffed his hand back in his pocket and walked off the elevator.

On our way to the waiting room we passed room 203. Shawn's room. Hunter stopped in his tracks and just stared at the shut door. I saw him move towards the door. "Hunter, I don't think you-,"

"I just need to see him Mark. He may not even be in there, but if he is, I gotta see him." so I let him walk to the door, he placed his hand on the handle and pushed the door open. I looked at the bed and I saw the still outline of what had once been the most energetic being on this earth. There was a reason Shawn danced when he came out at work, he had to work off his excess energy so he wouldn't drive his opponent crazy trying to catch his ass. As Hunter disappeared behind the closing door, I sunk to the floor and leaned my head against the wall and for the first time since I heard the news, I allowed myself to feel the hurt and emptiness that filled my soul and hurt my heart.

[Hunter's PoV]

As I closed the door on a very concerned looking Mark I just leaned my head against the door and took several deep breaths before I slowly turned and looked at the still form on the bed. A few more breathes and I walked towards the bed. He looked so different than how he had looked the whole time he had been here. All the bandages and casts were gone, the tubes and wires were disconnected, it was just Shawn. I could see every injury that he had as clear as the summer sun. His face was covered, his arms and what I could see of his chest. He looked more like my Shawn now than he had in the past 30 hours. H had e passed away in the time frame I was given. There was no chair in the room anymore, so I got down on my knees on the floor beside the bed.

I was afraid to take his hand, but I wanted to touch him so badly, just to touch him. I gently took my shaking hand and laid it across his stiff, cold hand. His ring tattoo caught my eye and I felt more tears in the corners of my eyes. But I blinked then away. His hair was brushed back and framed his face like it did when he played opossum with me on my birthday one year when I came home from the road. He had been home with Piper who was recovering from her surgery; it was before everything blew up in my face. It didn't look natural, but then, nothing about this place was. I dropped my head down against the mattress and sighed. I didn't want to leave this room. I didn't want to leave Shawn alone.

"I'm sorry Shawn, I'm so sorry." I whisper to what had once been my loving husband. "Why didn't I confront you about your drinking? I knew what you were doing! Why didn't I call you out on it!" my voice had risen in volume, so I had to drop it back down. "You would still be here with me Shawn. It's all my fault. I let you down Shawn, I couldn't keep you safe. Please forgive Shawn, I'm so sorry." I felt my control slip, but I didn't care anymore, my world had just been destroyed and I saw no way to rebuild. "You can't be gone Shawn! You _have_ to come back Shawn! I can't do this without you! Damn it Shawn, please come back, _please_!" my tears fell from my eyes and left small circle stains on the white sheet below me.

"It wasn't your fault Hunter."

"Yes it was, I knew what he was doing, I knew it for months. I'm the reason he's gone."

"You can't blame yourself Hunter. Even if you had called him out, there is absolutely no guarantee that he would have stopped. It took you being hurt in an accident for him to stop the first time. I would have probably taken something worse this time around."

"Well he fucking got something worse this time didn't he!" I shout as I turn and face Mark who looked like he had been crying on the other side of the door I didn't hear open. He dropped to his knees beside me.

"You need to say what you need to say here Hunter, today. You'll never get another chance. Stop the blaming game, and tell him all you need to."

"I can't say goodbye Mark, I can't."

"You have too, or you'll go crazy. Let him go Hunter." I blinked more tears back and stood up and sat down on the bed, and focused on his face.

"He knows, he knows how much I love him, how much I need him, but he still left." I sighed and dropped my head down and laid it gently on the still chest and gave his hand a squeeze. A few seconds later I stood up, leaned over the bed and placed a kiss on his cold forehead and I slowly let go of his hand and pulled the covers further up his body. As Mark and I walked out of the room, I stopped myself from looking back, and the door shut behind us.

[Stephanie's PoV]

"What do you want dad?" I ask as I walk through the door to his office, annoyed that he couldn't just tell me whatever the hell is was over the phone.

"I'm in my office baby." I hear him yell through the house.

"Of course you are, that's the only room in this house you go to." I mutter as I walk in the door and sit in one of the chairs in front of his desk, the place Shane and I often found ourselves when we were growing up.

"I just got off the phone with Mark-,"

"So?"

"I just though you should know that Shawn passed away about half an hour ago." I blinked. That was not what I was expecting to hear right now.

"Okay, what does this have to do with me?"

"Drop the suit Steph." I snorted.

"Why?"

"Hunter is going to be suffering enough, you don't need to add-,"

"Suffering? Oh no, who got there heart broken? Me that's who. All Hunter did was use me as a rebound, and I'm gonna make him feel what I did."

"He is, he just lost the love of his life-,"

"Don't you dare say that!" I say as I stand up from the chair. "He knows nothing about pain, but I'm gonna make him know what it feels like when his little girl is calling me mommy." And I walked out the door and out of the house.

I was a bit annoyed it was such a short drive from daddy's house to mine; I wasn't able to drive recklessly enough to make me calm down. So when I walked through the front door and saw Chris in the living room with his nasty feet on my coffee table I walked up behind him and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell woman!" he asked as he rubbed his head.

"How many times have I told you about your damn feet?" I saw as I kick them off the table and sit in my chair and turn off the TV.

"I'm sorry babe, I wont do it again." He says as he takes a drink from his glass, still rubbing the back of his head. "What did daddy dearest want?" at his question I smile.

"I no longer have to worry about two court cases, just one."

"Why? The idiots get hitched or something." He says, sounding uninterested and bored.

"Nope. Shawn's dead."

[Hunter's PoV]

I put it off as long as I could. I made all the plans and signed all the papers for the transfer of Shawn's body back to San Antonio, Mark had called Vince for me since I knew I would just end up breaking down again and I didn't want to cry in front of my boss. So now, Mark and I were walking back down the hall towards the waiting room where even more people had gathered. Randy and John had decided to come back after the signing and were planning on heading back out once they got some news, I wonder what they would do after I told them.

But I was the most worried about telling Piper her dada was dead. She knew what death was, she had been around so much of it in her short life it was like someone was taking the knife that was already lodged in my chest and twisting it, all because I had to add another name to the list of people who had died on my beautiful daughter. She was mine now. All mine, her biological parents were dead, and so was Shawn. I was her only surviving parent.

I just walked right into the room, and I was met with so many faces, but my eyes landed on a tiny little girl who was sitting on the lap of Ric Flair and when she saw me she just stared at me. Mark followed close behind me and he shut the door as I sat down. I motioned for Piper to come to me, and she slowly slid off Ric's lap and walked over to me. I pulled her on my lap and wrapped my arms around her and held her close as I felt my heart break even more, I was about to rip her heart out. As much as I wanted to tell everyone what had happened, the little girl in my arms was the most important person to me in the room right now. So I took a deep breath and pulled her away from me and bit.

Her green eyes were anxious and wide, waiting for me to speak. "Piper, you know how dada went to church, and you learned about the lord, and Jesus and all that stuff?" she just nodded her head. "Well, you know how daddy always said he wanted to live with them?" she just nodded her head again. "Sweetie, dada just went to live with the angels." I heard the gasps and saw some shocked expressions when what I said hit the other people in the room, but Piper just tilted her head at me.

"What are you saying daddy?" she asks as her voice starts to shake, I feel her whole body tremble.

"Dada passed away sweetheart, he went to be with the angles."

Now, I was not expecting her to take the news well, obviously, but even in my wildest dreams was I expecting this. Her green eyes went from confusion, to realization, to sadness, to fear so fast I was sure I missed a few emotions. I felt her tense and go as still as stone before she started to shake. She jumped out of my arms and screamed "Get away from me!" before she fled across the room and into Mark's arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried, leaving me alone, confused, and deeply hurt.

**For the Record: **I don't hate Stephanie, I really make her out to be a hateful person, but I really don't have anything against her. The same for Chris Jerhico! Also, sorry if I made Hunter seem like a girl with all the crying, but I tried to write him being stony, but I hated it, so I did this instead. Plus, I don't see it as being girly, I see it as kinda heartbreaking, death can make the strongest of men cry.

**BTW, **There is still a lot to go in this story, but I'm tossing around ideas in my brain about what I should do after I finish this story, this is going to be the last story I do with Piper for now, so if there is anything you would like me to do, let me know.


	13. Twelve: Confessions

Hello, hello! Chapter Twelve

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and Key for the reviews that I love and look forward to all the time.

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lisits.

**Note: **Soo, a few things. 1) I did not know Shawn's parents names or Hunter's parents names. I was going to try to find them, but since I'm not really using real anybody's real names unless I have to (like then dealing with The amazing Undertaker) so I just decided to make some up. 2) During Shawn's Hall of Fame speech *sad face* he refers to his dad as "the Colonel" so I went with it. 3) Remeber Piper's past and her reactions will make more sense if it seems confusing. All that is in "Piper"

**Warning:** Nothing really.

**PLEASE READ, ENJOY**

And review

Hunter's PoV

As soon as were able we all left the hospital, all of us going to a hotel and staying a night before I took Piper home and the rest of the guys went back on the road. Vince was giving Mark the week after next off and everyone was going to be off Thursday and Friday, the day of his funeral and the day before. I let Mark in the room, he was carrying Piper, who had refused to let go of his arm since I told her about Shawn, and I had no idea why. Mark set her on the bed and walked out the door, he knew that I just needed to be alone with my baby. I quickly and gently changed her from her regular clothes to her pajamas and tucked her into the bed as I took a fast shower, not wanting to stay in the warm water too long, too many memories. I didn't need them all flooding back when I had to deal with everything else.

As I dried off I ran though a mental list of all the things I had to do tomorrow when I got back home. I would have to make dozens of phone calls, I would have to tell my parents, Shawn's parents, make his final funeral arrangements, pick out a head stone, get pictures, call his lawyer- the list just went on and on. There was so much to do, and none of it easy, I was physically tired just thinking about it all. I drop the wet towel on the floor and pull on my sweat pants, the ones Shawn bought me the first time I tore my quad muscle. I thought about taking them off and putting on another pair, but I knew that would just hurt worse. I pulled on an old t-shirt and switched off the light and made my way to the bed.

It was too hot for me to sleep under the blankets so I settled down on top of them, and just as I was closing my eyes I felt Piper shift and heard her voice in the darkness. "Daddy?" she asked, sounding unsure of what to say. I roll over and look at her, the lights from the street filtering through the curtains, illuminating her small, sad face. "What sweetie?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"About what I did, I didn't mean to run away, but…I don't know." She says as her voice breaks and small cries fill the room. I flip on the lamp and pull her into my arms. "I'm sorry daddy."

"It's okay baby, you have nothing to be sorry for." She just nods and holds to me as tight as she can. I just hold her as she cries, I let her get it all out, I had my chance to lose control, now it was her time.

"You're not gonna leave me are you daddy?" she asks when she looks up at me, green watery eyes looked frightened, and I figured out why she acted like she did. When her mother died, her father ran off and she was sent to an orphanage, it must feel like she was reliving that nightmare all over again.

"Piper, I want you to look at me." I say as I gently pull her away from me so I could really look in her eyes. "I am not going anywhere-,"

"That what dada said and he did!" she protested.

"Dada was sick baby, he was sick and he didn't get help, that why he went to heaven. But I'm not sick, and I am not gonna leave you, ever."

"Momma told me once that dying was an adventure, do you think dada is on one?" I let a small smile slip past my lips.

"I think he is." That seemed to be a satisfying answer for her, because she leaned back against me and I wrapped my arms back around her, and held her until she fell asleep. I laid her back down under the blankets and I soon joined her in sleep.

The trip back to San Antonio was uneventful, I was keeping word of Shawn's death quiet until I got back home and told her family, but I knew I would have to move fast, bad news has a tendency to get out fast, faster than I would be able to deal with it all. We walked trough the door of the house we had just moved into a few months ago, and I knew I was going to have to deal with more than I was going to be able to here in this house. Photographs of Shawn littered the walls of almost every room, the shelves and tabled filled with memorabilia from both our careers, more pictures, and everything in between. Piper froze in the door way, but I gently pushed her through the house and up the stairs, as I fought to keep from looking at the wall on my up. I got Piper in her room and dropped her bags on the floor and told her to unpack. I closed her door and I slowly made my way to our bedroom. Pushing the door open I froze and stared at the bed, it was unmade on the right side of the bed, Shawn's side.

He had slept in longer than I had the morning we left, I had made up my side the best I could, but it seemed Shawn just tossed the cover's back and got dressed, his sweat pants tossed carelessly on the floor in front of the closet. I lugged the bags in the room, I set mine on the bed, but put Shawn's in a corner, I would deal with them later. I unzipped one of the bags and went about unpacking. I went to the closet to get the laundry basket. I flip on the light and I see the wooden chest that held all the extra bed sheets, but it was open and some of the sheets were on the floor. I walked over and looked in the chest, and I felt nothing as five empty alcohol bottles and three full bottles lined the bottom of it.

I just stared at the bottles and I couldn't bring myself to dispose of them, an irrational fear of them caused me to simply toss the sheets on top of them and close the lid tight and stack some junk on top of it, out of sight and out of mind I thought as I picked up the basket and walked back to the bed and dropped the few dirt clothes I had in the bags. I put away the clean clothes, tossed the shoes in the closet and put the bags on the top shelf and shut the door. As I crossed the room I kicked Shawn's pants under the bed and walked out the door. I went in Piper's room and grabbed her dirty clothes so I could wash them, she wasn't in her room, but when I went downstairs I saw her in the living room watching TV. I tossed her clothes in the laundry room and then went to the kitchen and put some water on the stove to boil and turned the oven on to preheat. Then I walked to the den to call Shawn's parents.

I sat in the chair his parents had gotten Shawn and I on some anniversary years ago as my finger hovered over the call button on my cell. I was so worried about calling them if I didn't have bad news. When Shawn and I had first gotten married, they were very happy for us, but when our marriage went south I was public enemy number one in their eyes, and when we told them we were getting back together I think Shawn's dad wanted to string him up from his toes. They were not happy at all with us getting back together, and now, I had to call and tell them that their son was gone. But I had to tell them. I had to get it over with. Because after I called them I had to call my own parents. Mark was being a blessing and he was telling everyone at work, hell he was the one who called and told Vince for me at the hospital.

I pressed the call button and with a sigh brought the phone to my ear. …ring…ring…ring…ring…ri- "Hello?" it was his dad.

"Hello Colonel?"

"What do you want?" he asked, obviously talking to me was the last thing he wanted to do right now; well I didn't exactly wanna talk to him either.

"I have something to tell you, about Shawn."

"What, did the boy grow a brain and leave you?"

"He passed away last night." …..Silence….

"Excuse me?"

"We were in Mexico for a tour and he fell into the street and got hit by a car. I'm so sorry Coronel, but Shawn's gone." …..More Silence…. "Colonel?"

"I'm sorry Hunter, I just-,"

"It's okay, I understand. I'm sorry."

"Me too. How's Piper?"

"Not too good, maybe you guys would like to come down and see her? She needs something to help."

"I'll talk to my wife and let you know. But now I gotta tell her."

"Okay, just call anytime sir."

"I will, and Hunter-?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry for how I acted when you and he got back together. I never saw him happier than when he was with you. I just thought you should know that."

"I'm glad you told me. Thank you sir."

"Good bye Hunter."

"Bye." The line went dead and I had to get up and finish dinner before I broke down again. Shawn and I had been back together for over a year and it took that long plus Shawn dying for him to tell me he was sorry. It was too much to digest at the moment. So back to the kitchen I went.

Piper asked if she could help me cook dinner, so I set her up on the counter and gave her some bread to butter and put some garlic on for garlic bread while I cooked the pasta and chicken for the rest of the meal. Lunch came and went, Piper didn't sit in her usual seat, but sat as close me to as she could and ate. After lunch she helped me put the dishes away and the leftovers in the fridge. Then I took her up stairs and as she grabbed her pajamas I filled the bathtub full of warm, bubbly water and told her to stay in as long as she wanted. I had to go call my parents. So I went back downstairs to the living room and called them without hesitation.

"Hello?"

"Hey mom."

"Hunter, it's so good to hear from you, I thought you were in Mexico for three months?"

"No, the tour is three months; we were just in Mexico for a week."

"All the same how are you?" and just then I felt my throat close up. "Honey?"

"Shawn's dead mom." I say, my voice sounding hollow to my ears.

"What? Oh sweetheart, when?"

"Last night."

"Hunter, do you need me and daddy to come over?"

"I don't know mom. I don't know what to do right now."

"Don't you worry, I'm getting my shoes on and I will be there as soon as I can."

"Okay-,"

"How's Piper?"

"Not to good, she-she really freaked out on me when we were at the hospital."

"Oh, goodness," she said, her voice thick with emotion, "is there anything I need to bring with me, anyone I need to call?"

"No, I don't even know what I need to do first. I have this so much-,"

"I'll be there as fast as I can baby, go cuddle with your daughter in the meantime. See you soon son." And she hung the phone up and I set my phone on the side table.

It would take her about an hour to get here, and I really couldn't bring myself to do anything else that needed to be done at the moment. So I picked up the remote and flipped on the TV. When I noticed the time, I felt myself grow even sadder, if the things of the past two days were a dream, Shawn and I would be preparing to tape Smackdown right now. I quickly surf the channels and randomly choose the cooking channel and I just stared at the screen, not even seeing what I was staring at. A little bit later I heard soft footsteps on the stairs and I turned and saw Piper descend the stairs, dressed in her plaid pajama bottoms and an old shirt that Shawn had given her to sleep in on the journey from California, where we adopted her, to our old house in Texas. She had never given the shirt back, Shawn never asked for it back, and she always wore it when she was upset. Piper stopped me and padded over to me and I pulled her up on the couch, and we sat that way for a bit until she asked if she could change the channel. I gave her the remote and I sprawled out across the couch, my legs behind her body as she changed the channel to something I didn't recognize, then she laid down beside me, I wrapped my arms around her after I pulled the blanket from the back of the couch across us both. I soon heard Piper's breathes even out, she must've fallen asleep, and I soon followed her into the peaceful land of dreams.

Laura's PoV

I turned an hour drive into a forty-five minute drive. My son's voice was thick and heavy with emotion and sadness. I allowed the drive to be my time of grieving. Shawn had been a great partner for my son, and an even better father for my grandbaby. As I drove I let my tears fall from my eyes so there would be none left when I arrived at my son's house. My husband, Greg, would be coming tomorrow, so I was left here alone for a night. I quickly dried my eyes as I pulled into the drive way and I got out. I walked to the front door, I knocked a few times, even rang the doorbell, but nobody opened the door, so I turned the knob and let myself in.

I walked in the door into a large living room, I heard the TV and I walked around the couch because I saw a big pair of feet sticking out from the end. When I rounded it I saw my son and granddaughter sound asleep. I turned off the TV and tucked the blanket further across the sleeping pair, and then I went to the kitchen and examined the contents of the cabinets and refrigerator. Since they were always on the move I was not surprised to find there was basically nothing in them, so I picked my keys up again and walked back to my car and drove to the store.

By the time I carried the last bags in, the door closing behind me woke Hunter from his sleep. He sat up and glanced at me over the back to the couch. "Mom?" I smiled at him as he gently got off the couch, not waking Piper as he moved towards me in the kitchen. "How long have you been here?"

"I got here half and hour ago, but when I saw what a desert your cabinets were, I went to the store and did some shopping for you." I reply as I set my bags down and pull my son into a hug. "I'm so sorry Hunter, Shawn was a good man." I pull away from him and start to put away the groceries. "How did he pass?" I asked, but when the sentence passed my lips I saw him tense and his head dropped. I went back to him, placing my hand on his shoulder. "Hunter, I know its hurts to talk about it, but that's one of the ways that can help you heal. Talk to me." I watch with sad eyes as he turns away and sits at the table, I fiddles with the empty fruit bowel that's on the table. I quickly set about making some tea and I put away more groceries and pour us the tea, all the while, Hunter sits at the table, staring at nothing, and saying just as much.

Hunter's PoV

My mom set down a cup of steaming tea by my elbow and she sat down across from me. "Hunter, you need to talk about it." She says as she wraps her small, boney fingers around my thick hand, the say she did when I was I child who needed to talk, but didn't know how too. This gesture always helped me say what I needed to say, and it worked just as it always had. "He was hit by a car mom." I say, and her face goes pale as I continue, "He was drunk and stumbled out into traffic. He was in a coma, not moving, so many wires were attached to him it was like he wasn't even my Shawn. I couldn't let Piper see him; she didn't need to see him that way. So I left the hospital with her, intent on coming home, but I didn't make it to the airport, and Shawn didn't make out of the O.R."

"Oh. Baby. Why didn't you call us when it happened? We would've been there with you."

"It just happened so fast, everything is happening too fast." I pull my hand from her grip and fold them across the table and I drop my head against them. I calmed back down and lifted my head to look into her sad eyes. "A few days before he died, Shawn and I got severed with papers." Then I fell silent, not wanting to even think about what I was telling her about.

"What kind of papers?"

"A challenge for custody papers." She gasped.

"A challenge-, I don't un- I mean, you and Shawn are her parents."

"Do you remember during Shawn and I's divorce, how I had a serious relationship with a woman named Stephanie?"

"Yes, the short brunette."

"She's the one who started the whole thing."

"Are you saying that this…this Stephanie is trying to get custody of Piper?"

"What?" I quickly turn towards the living room and see a terrified Piper standing next to the couch; she had heard what we had said.

"Piper, sweetie-,"

"You said you leave me!" and then she ran up the stairs in tears, and I felt my own pool around my eyes as a door being slammed reverberated though the cold house.


	14. Thirteen: He Knew

Hello, hello! Chapter Thirteen

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and two reviews that didn't have a neme besides "Guest" I love the reviews and they really helped me with this.

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lisits.

**Note: **I'm back! I am so sorry for the lack of updates. I didn't have writers block, but I did feel a bit overwhelmed with what all that needs to get done with this story. I tossed around soo many ideas and it was thanks to one of the best songs I have heard in a long time called **Saving Amy** by **Brantley Gilbert** that really heped with this update. I am back and I promise to "make up for lost time."

**Warnings:** I'm back with the religious stuff, but I personally find in hard to get through a death without it. So if it offends you, go away, I didn't write this to please you!

**PLEASE READ, ENJOY**

And review

Laura's PoV

My son dropped his head back into his arms when Piper ran off, he was getting overwhelmed. I refilled his cup and rubbed his arm. "Hunter, you have to be strong right now, that little girl needs you so bad right now. I know it's hard, I do, but you have to keep her feeling safe." He nodded his head, but didn't lift it from where it sat. "What all needs to be done Hunter, I'll help any way that I can." I got no answer, so I pressed a kiss against his head and left him alone. He needed to work out all that was going on alone. He had no choice.

Hunter's PoV

I knew my mom was only trying to help, but I was so relived when she left me alone. She was right; I had so much I still had to get done. Without a doubt, if the roles were reversed, Shawn would have all this done by now, but Shawn was the strong one in our relationship. He was the one that was able to push through whatever was going on. I don't know what to do, there's so much that needs to be done, but I don't have the will to do it. I may have held the "husband role" in our marriage, but he was the backbone and the brain. I left out a small, coked up sigh and scooted away from the table. I had to go see Piper. I wasn't looking forward to telling her what was going on, but she had to know. She needed to know before this went to trial. I hoped and prayed it wouldn't get that far, but I knew the reach the McMahon lawyers had. They would be able to send a midget to jail for being too short, what chance did my run of the mill lawyer have against them? I slowly made my way up the stairs and I stood outside Piper's door trying to gather my courage.

Letting out a breath I knocked gently on her door, I didn't get an answer, not surprising, so I walked in. I froze in the doorway when I saw her window open and my daughter hanging from the pane by her little hands, "help.'" I heard her cry out, I ran to the window and pulled her back in and held her in my arms as she cried hard against me. "Why daddy? Why did he have to go? Why do I have to go! I love you daddy and I don't wanna go with her! Don't make me go with her!" I stare out the window I just pulled her from and focused my gaze, I couldn't break down now, I didn't have that option. Piper needed me, and I needed her just as much. I wouldn't let her be taken from me without a fight. We just sat until she cried herself back to sleep. But still I sat there, holding my daughter tight in my arms. If Shawn were here, we would still be in Mexico and in the middle of taping Smackdown. The clock on the night table said it was 7:26. I sat and watched the minutes tick by, my mother had already came up and said there was dinner in the fridge for us, then she came back up a few minutes ago saying she was going to bed. The clock read 9:18 before Piper stirred in my arms.

I looked down as her eyes opened and she crawled out of my arms. "I'm hungry." She said her voice horse from her cries. I stood and we walked down the stairs to the kitchen where I warmed the chicken and noodles mom cooked and poured her a glass of chocolate milk. We ate in silence, I finished first and I sat and watched her finish. When she was, she scooted away from the table and curled up on my lap. I could tell she was tired, as was I, but I was afraid to sleep in my room. There was too much Shawn in that room. I carried Piper to the bathroom and dropped her in front of the sink so she could brush her teeth while I pulled her covers back in her room and flipped on her nightlight. She had done so well without it, but I knew tonight she would need it. I heard the tap turn off in the bathroom and I tucked her in bed, kissing her nose then shutting the door. I bypassed my room entirely and went to the hall closet and pulled out an extra pillow and sheet and went back down the stairs to the den where I made my bed on the couch. I normally would've slept on the living room couch, but that was where I slept when Shawn and I fought. I lay down and tossed the sheet over my body and closing my eyes tight. I didn't want to wake up anymore. Knowing that tomorrow would be another day without Shawn. Another day closer to having to put him in the ground, another day closer to having to deal with the case that could take my daughter away from me. I rolled over and buried my face against the back of the couch trying to block my thoughts from my head. After a long time, possibly several hours, I fell into a shallow sleep, that I often awoke from when I felt beside me for a warm hand to grasp and finding nothing.

The next morning was worse than I was hoping. I woke to my cell ringing and it being my lawyer. "Hunter, I need to know what's going on with Shawn. Adam said he's been trying to get a hold of him for a few days."

"He's dead Russ." I say in a monotone voice, not wanting to break down on the phone to my lawyer.

"Come again?"

"He's dead Russ! God what part of that do you not get!"

"I'm sorry Hunter, I just-I don't know. But, I'm so sorry Hunter, when?"

"The night before last, he didn't make it past the forty-hour mark they gave me."

"Hunter, I truly am sorry for your loss. How's Piper taking it?"

"Russ, as much as I appreciate this, there was a reason you called?"

"Yes, um…" rustling of papers, "The ruling to decide whether or not to go to trial is in three weeks, you need to come by my office as soon as you can so I can fill you in on all that's going on. When is the earliest you can come?"

"I can come at one this afternoon."

"This isn't just going to be a one afternoon thing here. We have a lot to go over, you need to be prepared Hunter, prepared for what these guys are going to throw at you."

"So I can do it everyday then."

"But what about what's going on at your home."

"I need to get away, and besides, if I don't do this, I'm not just gonna be without Shawn am I?"

"Okay, so I'll see you at one then."

"Yea, see you then," and I just hang the phone up and kick a chair across the room. I then went into the kitchen to see my mother cooking breakfast. I walk in and kiss her cheek before sitting down at the table. "Morning mom."

"Good morning son. How did you sleep?"

"Okay I guess, you?"

"Well enough, your guest bed is nice, but it's not my bed, and I didn't have your father snoring in my ear." When I didn't say anything she went back to stirring whatever she was cooking. "Hunter, no matter how much you don't want to, you are going to have to face your bedroom sooner or later. You can't just keep the room the same. Some of Shawn's things will need to go. It's the only way for you to heal."

"I know, but I can't do that yet, I don't want to find anything else that will make me be mad at him."

"I don't understand, what could be up there?" I decided not to answer my mom, she didn't need to know about the dirty secret he kept under our roof, she didn't need to know the extent of his addiction and destruction.

The next few days passed pretty much the same way, I slept on the couch, mom cooked, and I went to my "classes." Tonight was the hardest night I had faced since returning home, the night before Shawn's funeral. I had sent my mother back home earlier this afternoon so I could spend some time with my daughter. We were sitting in the living room, a box of cold pizza on the table in front of us; she was curled up close to me, he head resting on my chest. "What time do we have to get up tomorrow daddy?"

"Eight. We gotta be there at eight thirty." I say, staring at the blank screen of the TV set. We had bypassed the visitation, everyone just wanting to get this part over with as soon as possible. Two days ago Shawn's death went public, as of right now, no one knew the real reason behind his accident, and I hoped it stayed that way. Even though Vince let me have off as long as I needed, he was requesting my presence on Monday for the memorial episode that was going on. As much as I hated why we had them, it always made everyone appreciate everyone at work a little more, everyone was quieter, more sincere in all they did, the matches were always that much better, when everyone had their emotions on their sleeves. I had specifically asked that nobody come by the house tonight, but I knew that the guys were five minutes away if we needed them. Mark was getting a week off following the episode, I would need him, Thursday is when the first round of court appearances started.

"Daddy?" I look down and see my child's green eyes swell with tears. "I don't wanna go tomorrow." And with that, the tears fell from here face. I pull her on my lap and she buries her head against my shoulder. "I don't wanna do this again Daddy; I don't wanna see him like that. It's all a lie, he looks asleep but he's not. Why did he leave me daddy?"

"I don't know baby, I don't. Daddy was sick, and we didn't know."

"Why didn't he know?"

"He did know, baby. He didn't want to tell us."

"Why not?" I sighed and pulled her back so I could look into her eyes.

"Piper, your daddy was a proud man; he didn't want to tell us he was sick because he didn't want to disappoint us-."

"That's stupid, we could have helped."

"I know that, but he didn't, and there's nothing I can do about it, if I could I would. But it's out of my control."

"I wish he was here." She said with a cry as she fell back against my chest. I wrapped my arms tight around her and closed my eyes. I wish I knew what to say to make this easier on her, but I couldn't make sense of it in my own mind.

It had been like this every night since we got home, I would hold her until her cried herself to sleep, I always carried her back to her bed and tucked her in. I wouldn't go anywhere near the room I shared with Shawn, and go sleep in the den. I was waking up sore from the lack of room on the couch; I knew I would sleep even worse if I tried to sleep in that room. I lay down on the couch, but I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was buzzing, so after about an hour I just sat up and moved to the computer. I flipped on the desk light and as I pulled my hand back I knocked over this ugly wooden clock Shawn found in Mexico a long time ago. I hated the thing, he though it was cool. As it hit the ground I wanted it to break, so I decided to leave it where it feel. It may be broken, a good reason to get rid of something that reminded me of him. But just as I was reaching for the computer mouse, my eye caught a glimpse of wrapping paper. I pulled the package out from a stack of random papers and books that had accumulated there, behind the ugly clock, and I saw the tag that said "From Shawn To Hunter. I contemplated for a long time if I should open it or not, but I finally did. It was a black book and the cover said _Holy Bible_ and had my name on the bottom right corner. I never owned a bible once I moved out of my parent's house, so this must have been something Shawn had wanted to give me. Against my better judgment I flipped open the cover and right there I saw it. Written in the too familiar chicken scratch Shawn called hand writing was a letter to me.

_Hunter,_

_I know that this isn't what you want as an 2nd wedding gift, but I think it would do you more good than another pair of sunglasses you're just gonna loose in a week or a wallet you'll tell me you'll like even when you wont. I know you get annoyed with me when I push this on you, but it's important to me. Not a day goes by when I don't thank God everyday that I have you. _

_We've know each other a long time, Hunter, and the years have flown by and as we both know, one day we wont be together in this life, but it will only be for a while. If something happens to me, I want you to read this book Hunter. It will help you through whatever may have happened. I pray that God gives you the ounce of faith you need to get through life, with or without me._

_Read this book Hunter, and remember I love you. Can't wait to meet you at the alter again,_

_Love you always,_

_Shawn_

I closed the book shut and tossed it away like it burned me. I felt like had been punched in the gut as my mind replayed every word he had written. That bastard knew he what he was doing when he wrote that, hell, he knew what he was doing each time he took a drink. How dare he tell me that the stuff he believed in whole heartedly would save me when it didn't save him. I slammed my fist against the desk top and stormed out of the den. I walked up the stairs and into the door of the room I had avoided like the plague for the past week. I paid the bedroom no heed as I headed towards the closet. I pulled open the door and stormed towards the chest that held his damn secret. I tossed the fallen linens out of the way and stared at the harmless bottles.

With a cry I plucked a bottle from the lot and took the top off, tossing it somewhere in the darkness. I held the cool glass in my hand, the smell filling my nose and I stagger back and follow the wall to the floor. I like Shawn had been a drinker in the day, I was never as bad as he, but I knew what a few sips of this could do. But now, I also knew the damage it could do. As if a light went off in my head, I threw the bottle away, its contents leaking on the floor as I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at the cruel devise that tore my Shawn from me. That bastard had known what he was doing each time he took a drink from it, but whatever he was going through, must have been to hard to face alone. What he was living with without it, must've been able to kill a lesser man. I just sat on the floor and watched as the bottle emptied itself on my carpet, making the room smell as bad as Shawn's breath often did the last few weeks of his life.

I tore myself from the floor and shakily made my way to the bed; it still looked like it had when I was in here dropping off the suitcases, my side neatly made, his side unmade. I didn't think twice as I walked over to his side and dropped my body onto the bed, burying my face into his pillow. As I pulled our covers over my body I heard rain drops fall against the window and fall to the ground outside. As I closed my eyes, my body sinking into the familiar warmth of our bed, I swore I could still smell him on the pillow.

Shawn's PoV

The fog that I had been in suddenly lifted and I saw three people flash across my vision, Hunter, Mark, and Piper. In less than a second I found myself on the dock of the small pond that was in the back of Hunter and I's old house in San Antonio, I'm in jeans and a white shirt, the sun is blazing white, but there is no heat from it. I hear footsteps and I see my little girl running towards me, and I hear Ann's words in my ear, _"You get three minutes with three people. Choose wisely Shawn. I'll meet you when you're done."_

"Piper!" I hear myself call out, the little girl stops running and stares at me for several seconds, then, without warning, she runs as fast as her tiny legs will carry her. Her hair is loose and flying behind her as she runs, her pink skirt bunching around her legs.

"Daddy! Daddy!" she cries as she reaches my and jumps into my arms.

It feel so real, I hear her breath, I smell her hair, I feel her heartbeat. I just hold her as close as I can, never wanting to let her go. Three minutes is cruel. I've been alone so long; I don't think I'll be able to let her go. "Daddy, I've missed you."

"I know baby, I know." I give her another squeeze and then I set her on her feet as I drop to my knees and hold her hands.

"Is this a dream daddy?" she asks, I can tell she already knows the answer, but like me, she doesn't want to face it.

"Yea, it's just a dream."

"I had one like this when Momma died, only we were at the park in California."

"I don't have long Piper, I wish I had the rest of time, but I don't."

"I don't wanna say goodbye daddy, I don't."

"You have too, you have to say goodbye. I know it's not easy baby, but you have to." I see tears fall down her flawless cheek, and I gently kiss them away.

"I love you daddy."

"I love you too Piper, with all my heart. I promise you, I'll look after you forever."

"You said that when you adopted me, and you left!" she protested.

"This is a promise I'm going to keep. I'll away look after you. You're my only baby girl. I'd do anything to come home and be with you again, but I can't."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Yes, you will." She nods and wraps her arms tight around my neck. I pull her close and I sit down and pull her into my arms.

"Daddy said you were sick, why didn't you tell us, we could've saved you." her words hurt my heart.

"It was too late to save me baby, but don't let what I did effect you. It's too late for me, but it's not too late for you or dada."

Before I was ready, I felt her get lighter in my arms, I hold on tighter with ach passing second. My three precious minutes are gone; she realizes what's going on too and squeezes me tight. "No, no daddy leave me again, don't leave me here!"

"I love you Piper." That the last thing I hear or say on the dock as the pond and sun give way, and I'm back in the thick fog I hadn't cried since I got here, I want even aware if it was possible, but as I sunk to the floor, the tears fell and I cried for my little girl who I had left alone.


	15. Fourteen: Preparations

Chapter Fourteen: Preparations

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, Paula May Busby, key for the reviews. I say this every chapter and I am going to again. Thank you SO much for the reviews, I look forward to them and I love reading them.

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lisits.

**Note: **Back to the Stephanie bashing, again, I like Stephanie, but there needs to be a bad person, and Stephanie is a pretty damn good villain. There is some mentions of Chris Jericho again, but its as before, I love the iotola of rock-n-rolla, but the bad guy needs a sidekick.

**Warnings:** Not really in this chapter, but beware, the funeral is coming up, so there will be a lot of religion going on, and if you don't like, the back button is free. To the rest, god bless you all! Lol.

**Also: **I've mentioned this before, but it's been a while, so I'm going to mention it again. I don't have a proof reader, and I don't catch all my mistakes. So I apologize for any errors in spelling or grammar.

Hunter's PoV

I opened my tired eyes when I heard the all too familiar sound of the alarm clock. I was surprised Shawn wasn't grumbling at me to turn it off, but I reached my hand behind me, trying to find the thing, and my hand meeting nothing but cold wood. I turned my head to look and that's when everything hit me again. Shawn was gone, and I was on his side of the bed, destroying one of the reminders that he had been here. I sighed and rolled over to my side and turned the alarm off. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. It was still kinda dark outside, and I could still hear the rain fall against the window, so I looked at the clock to get the time and I groaned and fell back against the pillows; I didn't have to be up for four more hours. I flipped on the side lamp, wincing at the harsh light that filled the dark room. Once the pain had stopped, I glanced around the room, taking in everything that was proof of Shawn. His discarded clothes on the floor, his collection of hair ties and his comb that sat on the dresser, his cowboy hats that lined the wall, his muscle soothing creams and pills sat all about the room. I knew if I opened the nightstand drawer I would find so much random junk I wouldn't know why half of it was in there. He was a messy person actually, but it was a hidden messy. The top would look clean and proper, but if you opened any drawer that was his it would seem like they belonged to a teenager. I cannot count the number of times I would catch him ironing a shirt for church that had been washed a day ago, but was wrinkled from where he crammed it in the closet. As much as I didn't want to move any of it, I knew I would have too.

It wasn't healthy to keep this stuff. Shawn was gone, and keeping his stuff wasn't going to bring him back or do me any favors. I sighed and flipped the light back off. I quickly rolled over and reset the alarm for the right time, then I closed my eyes again and enjoyed my time in this room. Too soon I would have to wake up and put him in the ground, too soon I would have to let him go, too soon I would have to say goodbye.

Mark's PoV

I dropped to the bed with a grunt and let out a breath as my head hit the pillow. This had been, without a doubt, the worst week I had ever lived through. I had taken Hunter and Piper to the airport and I hadn't heard a word from them since. I only knew when the service was because his mother had called Vince and Vince told all of us. I had seen Hunter go through his share of rough patches, I had seen him cry in the halls of various arenas, I'd seen hit punch doors, walls, and lockers, but I know I had never seen him go through something like this. The closet I think I had ever seen him like this was when Eddie passed away. This week had been hard, but I know tomorrow would make this week seem like a walk in the park.

When I got back with the company, word of Shawn's accident had been spread all over the locker room, but nobody knew he was gone. Hunter had asked us to not say anything until he personally called Vince. Then two days later we all got called to a meeting, where Vince announced to the company and the world, that Shawn Michaels had left this world. The reaction was stalling, everyone staring at Vince, as though wishing he would say "gottcha!" But it never came. Once it was realized it wasn't a joke, some people got up and left the room, refusing to have others see their reactions, some of the girls cried, some guys just sat quiet in their seats, but one reaction me wondering. Chris Jericho frowned and then picked up his phone and walked out of the room. I know he didn't really care Shawn, so why would he look so distressed. So I decided to follow him.

Down a few random hallways, we end up in one of the truck bays and he sits on the back of an open trailer, so I hid behind a stack of crates. I squinted in the darkness, trying to figure out what he was doing, but a flash of light showed me he was doing something on his cell phone. A few seconds later, he pressed it to his ear. "Babe, he's dead!" I wish I was closer so I could hear who was on the other line. "Don't know when, just had a meeting and he announced to everyone he was gone. Did you mean to- No! I'm not saying that you- Not at all I-," it seemed like every few seconds he was getting interrupted, but some of the half phrases were sketchy at best. "I'm sorry babe; I'll never think it again. Will I see you tonight? No? Okay, well…good night." then he walked away from me, and I knew I couldn't follow him, so I turned and walked back to where the buses were parked.

Maybe I was being paranoid, I had been keeping Shawn's fate quiet for a week, even though every time I was asked about him I wanted to scream that he was gone, that one of the best men on this earth would never been seen again. But, out of respect for that mans husband, I kept my silence. Husband, that wasn't true either, according to the government, Shawn was a divorcee, he and Hunter never got to remarry and leave the mistakes of the past officially behind them. I had so many jumbled thoughts in my mind, I sighed and shook my head as I climbed the steps and bypassed Glenn and went straight to the back and fall onto my bed, closing my eyes tight. Dreading the next morning, the morning I would help burry a dear friend.

Stephanie's PoV

After I hung up the phone I couldn't help the huge grin that spread over my face, with Shawn finally forever out of the way, Hunter would be mine. The months we spent together last year were the best of my life and if that little brat hadn't gotten an attitude, Hunter would be mine and his worthless friend would still be on this earth. But maybe this was for the best, after all, grief stricken people are easier to manipulate than well adjusted single parents. I knew from my father when that man's funeral services were, and I was going to make an appearance, and I was going to be standing by Hunter, holding his hand, as the dump loads of dirt on the person that stole him from me.

Hunter's PoV

I squeezed my eyes tighter together as the alarm rang in my ears. I didn't want to get up and face this day, I wanted to close my eyes and wait till Shawn got pissed and turned the alarm off himself. But the long I laid there, the more real it became that this was the day I had to say goodbye. I took a deep breath and rolled over and gently pressed the dismiss button. I closed my eyes as I sat up and swung my feet over the edge of the bed. I was on Shawn's side, so it was his girly, fuzzy carpet beneath my feet instead of the cold wooden floors that greeted me on my side. I open my eyes and looked down at the fuzzy blue carpet, a flashback from years ago when Shawn and I were buying stuff for Piper's room before we adopted her and Shawn found a box of these fuzzy rugs, so he got a pink one for Piper, and this blue one for him. It was always good for a laugh at his expense, but he would get the last laugh when I would jump from foot to foot in the winter from the freezing floors.

I pushed myself off the bed and out the door and down the stairs to the kitchen, I wasn't hungry, but after the restless night I had, I knew I had to get some coffee in my system, or I'd be useless by noon. So I turned the coffee pot on, but then I remembered, Shawn wasn't around to prepare the thing, I had to put the grounds and water in. it wasn't a big deal, I had done it when Shawn was gone or was sick, but the fact that there was another thing to add to the growing list that Shawn was gone made me put the coffee pot away. Shawn hated coffee, but he had brought me the maker because I was "spending too much time in the damn coffee shop" he would always say.

Letting out a breath and deciding to leave early so I could stop at the coffee shop, I turned and walked back up the stairs to Piper's room. I pushed open the door and saw my daughter, she was lying sideways across the bed, a pillow clutched in her arms, like she was hugging it all night, and tear tracks on her cheeks. I walked over to her and gently nudged her awake. I gave her a soft smile as she opened her puffy red eyes. "Hi baby, time to get up." she just nodded and sat up and wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back then pulled away. "You hungry?" she shook her head no, "Okay, go brush your teeth and I'll lay out your clothes." She nodded again and slowly got out of bed, clutching Baba tight in her arms she walked to the bathroom. I stood up and went to her closet and felt on the top shelf for her funeral clothes. We kept them on the very top shelf, out of sight and out of mind, but always seemed to be needed. I laid them out on her bed, found her a pair of shoes and undies, and put them on the bed. I know I should put tights on her, but I never could get them on her, and she didn't like them anyway, so I left them in the drawer.

Walking across the hall back to my room, I glanced at the clock; we had to leave in 20 minutes. I opened the closet door and almost gagged at the thick smell of alcohol, my drowsy mind remembered the bottle I had spilled and just left on the floor to drain. As happy as I was that there was one less bit of evidence I would have to dispose of, I was annoyed that my closet now smelled like a bar. I picked up the now empty bottle and set it upright on a shelf to be taken care of later, and I grabbed a black dress shirt and black pants before walking out and slamming to door behind me. I got dressed then went to the now empty bathroom and brushed my teeth. Glancing at Shawn's worn blue toothbrush, I picked it up and tossed it in the trash.

I was back in the kitchen and was clearing space out in the fridge for the food I knew would be soon be all over this house. My mother made sure that I wouldn't have to cook for a week, but she had suggested having a dinner afterward to help with the day, like always happened after funerals. I had just tossed out a to-go container of Shawn's when there was a knock on my door. I closed the fridge with a sigh; I didn't want any visitors right now. I had told the guys from work to leave me alone, I even told my own mother to leave me alone, so when I opened the door to find Mark standing there in one of the nicest looking outfits I had seen him in, I wasn't thrilled.

"Before you start chomping at the bit Hunter," he says, cutting off my string of words, "I was not about to leave you alone today, you don't need to be alone right now." And with that he pushes his was past me and into the house.

`"I don't smell coffee, but you look like you need a cup."

"I was going to get some from the shop across town-,"

"No, that little shop probably has more of your money than the government." he says, walking into the kitchen. "Where's your coffee pot?"

"Under the sink."

"Why is it there?" he asks as he pulls it out and sets about fixing me some coffee.

"I don't know." I lie and plop down on a bar stool and rub my hands up and down my face. Mark didn't say a word the whole time we were waiting for the coffee, and for that I was grateful; I wasn't in the mood to talk. I dropped my head on my arms and kept my eyes closed tight until a cup of hot coffee was dropped in front of me. "Drink, I'll go get Piper." Without waiting for a response from me he turned and went up the stairs, I ended up drinking the cup he gave and was working on a second cup when he came back down the stairs, Piper following on his heels. Baba tucked under her arms and came and climbed up onto my lap. I wrapped an arm around her and drank the rest of the second cup. I already felt a bit better, but I knew I was far from being where I needed to be physically and mentally for the day that was ahead.

Before I knew it, Mark was leading us out the door, but he wouldn't let me get in my car and drive, no, he made us get in his car, I discovered

Glenn had been sitting in the passenger seat this whole time, but I was grateful for this, as I climbed into the back. I was able to lean my head back and close my eyes some more as Piper curled up close beside me. The ride was silent, so my mind ran over what this day was actually going to be like.

There was going to be a ten minute service for the family only before the actual funeral since I had forgone the visitation. So for the first time since the custody battle court case, my parents, Shawn's parents, and sister would be in the same room with me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to put Piper through a service twice in one day, I would decide when we got there. Then everyone would walk by the casket and hug us all and say their peace, then was the actual service, then we would go to the cemetery, have a final prayer, then I would have to leave him alone, to be put in his final resting place.

I didn't want to think about that last part. Sure, in the days since leaving Mexico, Shawn had been alone, but he wasn't in the ground. He wasn't in the endless darkness that would surround him in the dirt. I knew I was being ridiculous, he was gone. That thing that was being burred was not my Shawn, my Shawn was in a better place, and I hoped and prayed that he was happy wherever he was.


	16. Fifteen: You can't do this now

Chapter Fifteen: You can't do this now

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and key for the always lovely and encouraging reviews.

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lisits.

**Note: Very short**, but I don't want to spend too long on the funeral bits because there is still a long way to go. But there will be one more chapter involving the funeral, then a tiny time jump to the court stuff.

**Warnings:** Not really, it's a funeral, so just expect the typical funeral stuff.

Hunter's PoV

Mark pulled onto the street where the funeral home was located, and not shockingly, there were people lined up on both sides. I looked down when I heard Piper let out a small, quiet whimper. I pulled her close and Mark turned around and went back down the street. "Mark, what are you doing?"

"Going to the store and getting some sun shields to put over the windows by you and Piper, there does not need to be any mourning photos of you on some random internet page." And with that, Mark quickly got out at the store he pulled in at, went in, came out. He handed me one sun shield and I hung it up against the window as Mark put the other one up across Piper's window. Then we went back up the street we had just come from.

Even with the sun shields, the flashing of cameras and the voiced of people were hard to ignore. But when we pulled up in front of the building it all got even louder. I pulled Piper into my arms and Glenn got out and very quickly opened my door and stood beside me and we quickly went into the building and Mark speed away. Once I was inside and the door shut I noticed how badly Piper was shaking. I dropped to my knees and set her on her feet. "Hey, hey it's okay. Its okay baby." She just nodded her head and snuggled into my arms. I kiss the top of her head and stand back up with her in my arms.

"Mr. Helmsley," I turn around and see the funeral director walk up to me. "I am very sorry for the crowd; the police are setting up a barrier so that the family and friends won't have such a hard time."

"Thank you. The family should be arriving soon."

"Actually, Shawn's mother and father are already here."

"Oh, how long have they?"

"Just a few minutes ago, they are in the viewing room sir." I nodded my thanks, Glenn took a seat on a random chair and I carried Piper to the viewing room.

I saw the Colonel and Sara were sitting in the first row of chairs, hand in hand, staring at the dark brown casket that held their only son. I stepped into the room, and a second late, the Colonel raised his head, his eyes, the same color of his son's, boring into mine. "Hunter." He says as he stands up, gently letting go of his wife's hand, her eyes never leaving the casket. The colonel walked over to me and shook my hand, at the sound of her grandfather's voice, Piper raised her head.

"Papa." She says her voice small and shaky. I set her on the floor and she goes to the Colonel's arms.

"Hi, angel." He says, dropping into a squat and wrapping his arms around her. No words were spoken, but the silence was soothing, the air surrounding us was thick with emotions. Sara stood up and walked over to her husband and granddaughter while I took a deep breath and walked over to the casket.

I stood about a foot from it and just stared down at Shawn. The wounds on his face were hardly visible, but I was still able to make out a few that hadn't been there before the accident. His hair was combed back in a half pony tail, the strands loose around his shoulders. He was dressed in jeans and a maroon shirt. The tattoo around his finger seemed faded, but his old engagement ring and old wedding ring stood out against the dark shirt. A cross necklace sat around his throat and his hands were crossed atop his chest. Minus the unnatural position and the coldness I felt looking at him, he could have been asleep. And in many ways, that made it harder to bear.

But I just stared at him. I kept my eyes glued to his face, hoping that he would just wake up, but the longer I stared, the more blurry my vision became. I blinked a few times, hoping to clear it, but it wouldn't clear. My breath sped up and I felt too shaky to stand. Everything about me but Shawn seemed to spin and the earth began to shake, I felt I was being bombarded with a thousand voices. "Shawn." I croaked out before my feet gave way.

"Whoa, easy." I hear a voice in my ear, and felt strong arms haul me over to a chair. I closed my eyes tight and tried to block out the feelings. "Hunter, Hunter its okay. Breathe, just breathe." A few more blinks and I see my father in front of me. "It's okay son. Everything is going to be alright."

"He's gone dad, he's really gone."

"I know, but you need to calm down, you're scaring your daughter to death. You can't do this now. Don't make it worse for her." his voice and the mention of my daughter cut through the haze that filled my mind, and I snap back into reality.

My father, Greg, is kneeling in front of me, his face still and serious, his eyes boring into mine, forcing me to focus; just past him is my mother, her hands gripping her shoulders, as though she's hugging herself. My sister, Julie, holding my daughter in her arms, tears on both their faces, Shawn's parents and his sisters, Kathy and Maddie, just standing by the door, concern all around. I blink fast, I feel so out of control it's hard to keep sitting where I am. I don't know what's wrong with me. I shake my head back and forth, my father's voice fading in and out.

"Daddy!?" my eyes go wide and the world stops spinning, and all goes quiet. Piper escapes Julie's arms and past my dad and into my arms. Her familiar weight grounding me to the earth, and driving the rest of the fog from my mind. "I'm okay baby, I'm okay."

After my minor break down, Shawn's pastor walked in the room. We all took our seats, Me, Piper, and Shawn's parents on the front row, my parents, my sister, and Shawn's sisters in the second row. I kept my eyes off the casket this time, staring past where he lay, and locked my eyes on the flowers on the top. It was a clever idea of his mother's, Shawn's 1st WWF championship belt sat on top, snapped into the circle, and in the middle was his flowers. Red and white roses, the blue ribbons read "Father", "Husband", "Son", and "Brother" in gold writing. The belt was Sara's idea, and I was very happy with how it actually looked.

I had only met Shawn's pastor a few times, but the man liked Shawn, and Shawn liked him. His name was Francis William. I kept my eyes on the flowers as Pastor William stepped in front of the family. "Today will be one of the most difficult days in your lives. We are all here to say farewell to our son, brother, husband, and most important, especially to Shawn, a father. We all know who Shawn was; we knew what he stood for and what he believed in. I have no words that can stop this pain you are all feelings, but know that we will all see him again. I'm not going to say very much right now, because this single week without Shawn has been hard. So I will leave you with this, celebrate Shawn. He loved you all, and you all loved him. Mourn him in your own ways, and don't rush or hinder that process. Because it will only make his passing harder than it already is." He bowed his head and said a prayer. But I, not a praying man, kept my head up and my eyes open. After the prayer, he said that there was about five minutes till people would start arriving for the actual service, so we had about ten minutes till it would start.

Only after Williams had stepped away did I lower my eyes. I wanted to leave, I wanted to just take my child and I leave. I don't think I can take all the hugs, words, and whatever else I would get from friends and extended family. I didn't think I could stay in this room with the body of the only man I had ever known not six feet from me.


	17. Sixteen: A Part of Me

Chapter Sixteen: A Part of Me

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89 and TheVampireLucinda for the reviews on chapter 15. Since I'm posting this so soon after it, I'm very glad I was able to get your opinions and wonderful reviews. I cannot tell you all enough how much I love them. I had no idea that was causing so much emotion from anyone but myself, so thank you. Its very wonderful to hear.

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lisits.

**Note: **Okay, so a few things, the song I use is called _**Goodnight My Angle**_ by Billy Joel, but its also sung by other artists. It's a cute lullaby and I though it worked pretty well. **Also:** More of Stephanie being a heartless meany, but you all know I really don't think Stephanie is this way, she is just a darn good villainess. **Also:** the majority of this is in John Cena's PoV, I think it is a first for that, but I found it much easier and more emotional seeing this unfold from an outside PoV than Hunter's, because his mind is a mess right now.

**Warnings:** Not really, it's a funeral, so just expect the typical funeral stuff.

**Closing: **I will not be describing the actually funeral service, the next chapter will be at the cemetery and what follows.

* * *

John's PoV

My eyes snap open when the most obnoxious sound I had ever heard sounds in my ear. I jump up and end up head butting Randy. "Ow! Damn it John!" he shouts, but it's muffled due to his hands being pressed against his face.

"Serves you right for doing that." I say as I get out of bed. "Are you okay ya big baby?" I ask, walking over to him.

"No, I think you broke my nose." He replies darkly, stepping away from me and to the mirror.

"Well, at least you and Hunter will match if it is." I say as I back him into a corner and pull his hands from his face. I shake my head, "There's not even any blood." I say as I flick the edge and doge away from his blind swing. "Is Josh up?" I ask as I walk over to the closet to pull out my suitcase for my funeral clothes.

"Yes," Randy says as he continues to rub his nose with one hand and put deodorant on with the other. "He's already dressed; he's sitting in the living room watching TV. And we have ten minutes to get dressed and get on the road."

"Where are your clothes? I don't see them in here?" I ask, looking into the bag.

"In the bathroom, I gotta take a shower; I took a run this morning."

"So why are you putting on deodorant and then getting in the shower?" I ask, looking at him smugly.

"Shut up." he says as he pushes past me and goes to the bathroom. I shake my head and change into the dark, depressing clothes.

Now that Randy is gone, and the distraction he provides is gone, the reality of this day starts to creep up on me. Hunter and Piper are already at the funeral home. I can't even imagine what they must be going through. I knew Mark was going over there this morning, we all had agreed that he didn't need to be alone, no matter what he told us. I pull on my pants and button my shirt as thoughts of my former tag team partner buzzed around my head. I had known Shawn before that, but during that time was when I really learned about him. He was amazing to watch on TV, or even from the crowd, but watching him that close and personal was breath taking. The few times the two of us actually wrestled will always be some of the best moments from my career. Shawn was an amazing performer, he will never be forgotten. Pulling on my shoes helped me shake those thoughts from my head. Today was going to be bad enough on its own without my thoughts jumping into the mess.

A few minutes later, Randy walked out of the bathroom and I walked out of the room while he got dressed. Josh was sitting on the couch, but he wasn't watching the TV. I sat down beside him and rubbed my hands against the back of his neck. "Wanna tell me what's on your mind son?"

"I don't know, dad."

"You can tell me anything ya know?"

"Ya, I know." I just kept rubbing his neck, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. "Dad?" I look at him, letting him know I was listing. "Why did Uncle Shawn have to die?" I looked at my son and thought about what I should say. It would be hard to give him an answer to a question I was asking myself. Why did it have to be Shawn?

"It was just his time son. Some people die when they're old, others when they're young, it was just his time."

"But why was it his time? I mean, there are plenty of other bad people out there, why him? Piper needs her dad."

"I know, but that's not up to us to decide Josh. All we get to decided is what to do with the time that is given to us, we have to make the most of every minute we are given, so that when our time does come, we have no regrets." Josh turned his brown eyes to me; a look of seriousness making his features stone.

"Do you think Uncle Shawn had any regrets?"

"I can't answer that either son. But, if I had to guess, I would have to say yes."

"Why?"

"He didn't get to watch his daughter grow up, get married, he didn't get to remarry Uncle Hunter, possibly adopt more kids, there are all sorts of possibilities."

"Do you think he's happy though, even with all of that, do you think he's okay with it?"

"Yea, I do." I say, letting myself be comforted by my own words. Yea, Shawn's death was a tragic accident, but he had done it all, and even though he didn't get to see all he may have wanted to, he still made a lasting impact on so many people, in so many ways.

I lean back against the couch and pull my son with me. I was grateful I still had my family. My beautiful son and handsome husband, a great career, and the best of friends. Today was going to be a celebration to me, a celebration of Shawn and the lessons he had taught and was still teaching. Even in death he was helping me see things clearer than I would have on my own.

Soon we were on our way to the funeral home, our car was one among dozens that pulled out of the parking lot of the hotel we were staying at, all of us on our way to say goodbye to Shawn. I held Randy's hand the whole way there, and I stared at the crowd of people that lined the streets surrounding the funeral home. We had to roll down the window and tell a police officer who we were and show an ID before we were allowed in the parking lot, where we were told where to park and escorted in the building quickly, to avoid the blinding flashes of the cameras.

Inside was a much more somber feeling than the chaos outside. There was a line from the viewing room to the door where we were standing. From my vantage point alone I saw Vince and his whole family, even his annoying daughter, walk through the door about five people behind us. I saw so many people I knew from work and people I didn't know from Shawn and Hunter's personal life, there were so many people, I wasn't sure if they would get everyone through before the service started.

But, before I really knew it, I was glancing into the room where the casket sat. I saw Shawn's belt on the top, I wondered which one it was, he had won so many. I could just make out his face against the stark white of the pillow. I held Randy's hand tighter as I stared at him. His face, always a bit haggard looking, looked even more worn, a few new scars from the accident were visible even from here. It was probably a good thing he was never conscious after he was hit, the pain would have been terrible.

I felt Randy tense with each step we took into the room. I squeezed his hand, not knowing what was going through his mind, but his blue eyes seemed like deep ice ponds, so full of emotion even he was afraid to show. A few more steps I spotted Hunter, he wasn't standing beside the casket with Shawn's parents like I had expected. No, he was sitting on a chair at the end of the first row, looking more tired than I had ever seen him. The longer I stared at him the more concerned I felt, he seemed like he was on auto-pilot, like he was there physically and not emotionally. But on occasion his eyes would shift to Shawn, and he would slump a little lower in his seat. I couldn't wait to get to him, see if I could help.

"Where's Piper?" Randy asked in my ear, his voice a bit shaky.

"I don't know, I don't see her." I say, glancing around the room that was almost half filled with people.

"I haven't seen Mark either." Randy says, following my gaze around.

A few more steps, we're the next people in line to see Shawn's parents, after them are his sisters, then Hunter and his family. I glace to my right and get the first look at Shawn since the hospital. He looks like his old self, minus the faint scaring and the paleness of his tattoos. The belt on the top was Shawn's WWF championship belt. That seemed fitting that it would go with him. Josh was on the far side of Randy, but even I heard his intake of breath when he saw him. Randy quickly pulled him close against him, rubbing his hand through his hair, turning his head from the sight.

A few more steps and we were in front of his parents. I shake his father's hand. "I'm so sorry for loss, Mr. Michaels. I've know Shawn for a long time, he was a wonderful man."

"Thank you John, I remember you from last year." He says as I move on to hug Shawn's mother and sisters. As soon as I can I go to Hunter. I stand in front of him and stare into his empty, red eyes. "Hunter?" I ask, gently nudging his shoulder. A few blinks and he seems to come too again. He sees me and stands up.

"Hey man, thanks for coming." He says his voice thick and low. I pull him into a hug.

"There isn't a force on this earth that could keep me from here." I rub his back a few times. "We all loved him ya know. We're all here for you man. If you need anything you call okay?" I ask, pulling away and looking into his eyes.

"Okay, I will." He says, nodding his head, I clap my hand against his shoulder and watch him and Randy embrace. I see Randy's mouth moving, but I can't hear what he says. Soon he pulls back and Josh waves a bit, but then wraps his arms around him.

"I'm really sorry Uncle Hunter."

"Me too kid. Pipers in the backroom with Mark if you wanna see her." he says to Josh, and then he looks at Randy and I. "I didn't think she needed to be around all this, she'll be in before they start."

We step away from Hunter and he sits back down as we claim seats two rows behind me, Josh wants to see Piper, but we decide to keep him with us. Randy keeps him entertained and I keep an eye on Hunter. I have never seen him look like this, and I was going to be there if he needed anything.

Stephanie's PoV

This line was taking too long; I'd been standing here for over fifteen minutes. But at least I'm in the doorway. I spot Hunter and I feel a tug at my heart when I spot the expression on his face, but it stops when I remember he wont be like that much longer. I'll help him forget about Shawn.

I'm so close to Hunter, but he's spending a long time talking to the Cena-Orton bunch it makes me sick. I'm so sick of standing. My feet hurt and it's hot in here. I glace at the coffin and roll my eyes when I see the belt across the top. That belt needed to be saved back in Connecticut, not six feet in the ground. But whatever, nothing I could do about it.

Finally, the line is moving. Phil Brooks and Beth Phoenix are the only people ahead of now, and of course Phil has to tell a story. But it was short one because my family is now standing in front of Shawn's parents. Dad does all the talking and I just look at the pair. Even with their age you can see where Shawn got his looks from, and his sister's are cute too. But I just go through the motions of hugging his mother and shaking his father's hand, but I'm more focused on Hunter. I smile as I take two steps over to him-

"Daddy!" sounds throughout the room and he's up and out of the chair faster than I had even seen anything move in my life.

I stare after his retreating form with wide eyes and I have to fight to not let my jaw drop in anger as I follow my dad, mom, and Shane to a seat five rows from where Hunter would be sitting.

Hunter's PoV

I run out the door and past the crowd of people to the backroom and see Mark holding a crying Piper in his arms. Mark quickly passes her to me and I sit and rock her back and forth, rubbing her back as Mark talks. "She fell asleep, I figured it would be a good thing, she looks ready to drop, then she had a nightmare, I don't know what it was about, but it scared her to death." I nod my head and suck in a few deep breaths, my heart racing from the fear that something had happened to my child.

"I had a bad dream daddy." She cried, sobs making her whole body shake. "You went away, I couldn't find you. I was all alone. Don't leave me daddy, please don't leave me." She cried, I hold her tighter and rock her a little slower.

"Shhh, it's okay Piper, I'm here, it's okay." I kiss her cheek and softly sing her the song Shawn and I always sung her when she was scared.

Goodnight, my angel  
Now it's time to dream  
And dream how wonderful your life will be  
Someday your child may cry  
And if you sing this lullaby  
Then in your heart  
There will always be a part of me

Someday we'll all be gone  
But lullabies go on and on...  
They never die  
that's how you  
And I  
will be

As the words went on, she slowly calmed down, and by the end she was sitting up on my lap and I was wiping away her tears. "I love you Piper."

"I love you too daddy." I kiss her cheek.

"You ready to go in?" she just nods her head. I take a deep breath and set her on the floor, I take her hand close in mine and together we walk into the room that is now full of our family and friends. I take my seat in the front row and Piper sits as close to me as the chairs will allow. She clings to my hand, but when I glace down I see her staring at Shawn, but all I see is a serious, still face and one single tear falling from her right green eye.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Your Keeping Alone

Chapter Seventeen: "Your Keeping Alone"

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and key for the reviews on chapter 16. I say this all the time and I'm gonna say it again, Thank you so very much! I don't know what I would do without them!

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lists.

**Note: **Here we are again! This chapter has more breaks and time jumps than I like to use. But, like I said, I want to move on from the funeral and Shawn's death. As emotional as it was, and how much I loved writing it and hearing all the wonderful comments, I am happy to move on.

In Hunter's final words to Shawn, some of what is being said may sound familiar if you have seen the amazing movie starring Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Irons, and the always talented Liam Neeson, called _Kingdom of Heaven_. Hunter doesn't use the same words, but the idea. The original quote is…

"_A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that." _...it is, by far, one of my favorite movie quotes .

**Warnings:** You all know how this goes by now.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

The drive to the cemetery was surreal to me. The line of cars never seemed to end as we pulled out of the funeral home. Mark had the visors back up in front of the windows, and Piper was sitting beside me, but she wasn't close to me. For the first time since Shawn died, I think Piper was finally truly accepting that he was gone. For some reason, that made me upset, she had realized it, and came to accept it before I had even really dwelled on it. But I suppose that she had been able to think about nothing but that since he died, where I had so much that had to get done. But even now, after all I had already done, I still had a whole list that had to get done. But I couldn't focus on that right now.

We pulled into the cemetery and Piper and I stay in the car until everyone is parked, and the casket bearers have Shawn's casket set up for the short graveside service. We all stand around the closed casket, Piper had a tight hold of my hand and Mark was standing right behind me, his hand settled gently on my shoulder while the final prayer was said. I closed my eyes and lowered my eyes to the green grass at my feet. At the end of the prayer I have to endure hug after hug after hug. My mother tells everyone that there will be a dinner at the church for everyone, and slowly everyone filed out of the graveyard until the only people were myself, Piper, Mark, and Glenn. I ended up giving Piper to Glenn and he took her to the car, as I walked over to the casket while Marked kept a close eye on me.

I set a hand on the smooth wood and sighed. I looked over my shoulder and saw the funeral director. "Excuse me?" I ask my voice surprisingly steady.

"Yes Mr. Helmsley?" he asks as he walks over to me.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please open this for me, I want to say goodbye." He looked like I had just asked him to drown a puppy. He walks over and gently raises the lid, then steps back. I step as close to Shawn as I can. I just look at him, my eyes passing over every blemish and mark on his once clear face. Here, outside in the sun, far away from the pink lights of the funeral home, I can see them. The marks that were covered by the bandages in the hospital, if I looked under his maroon shirt I knew I would find even more, worse even, than the ones on his face. He may have been hit by a small car, but that didn't matter when cold, hard, solid asphalt is the landing.

"I'm sorry Shawn." I say, a bit surprised that I said it out loud, and that my voice was strong and steady. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you Shawn." I snort out a breath and give a half smirk. "I knew about it, ya know. I knew about your drinking. I knew about it before I even proposed to you again. I was waiting until we were married again to confront you about it, that way it would be harder to run from it. We both know that's what would have happened." I wet my lips, "But you ran anyway. You ran away from the arena that day, you ran to a bar, you ran to your death Shawn." There it was the quiver in my voice, I swallowed and pressed on, this would be the last time I would see him on this earth. "Do you know how easy it would be? How easy it would be to just blame you? Call you the selfish one, the egotistical one. The great Shawn Michaels. It had to be his way or no way." I blink fast and shake my head. "I could do that, but I wont, I can't do that. This is as much my fault as it is yours. We each chose our own path. Greater men might tell us what do to, but if we listen to them or not is on our shoulders alone. So even if I told you to stop what you were doing, chances are, you wouldn't have." I didn't have the resolve to touch him, so sure was I, that if I did, I would be buried alive by the maelstrom of emotions that were swelling within me. "Your soul is in your keeping alone, but your heart is mine. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I love you Shawn." I press a kiss to my fingers and point them towards Shawn, and then I turned away and got in Mark's car. I pulled Piper tight in my arms and I silently stroked her hair the whole journey back to our house.

* * *

Next Morning

The sun poking through the unclosed curtains woke me from my restless sleep. I blinked a few times, but refused to actually move. If possible, I felt more tired today than I had yesterday. My eyes focus on the sleeping form of my daughter. She had nightmares plenty last night, three before I brought her to bed with me, and two while she lay beside me. But right now, she was quiet and unmoving, save for the rise and fall of her chest. She was facing me, her ratty penguin hung loosely in her arms, her breathing making a small bit of her hair move up and down against her nose. I reached out and tucked it behind her ear before I laid my head on my pillow and looked at her.

She had been through too much in her seven years of life. Too much pain and disappointment. I still remember the first time I saw her picture, as Shawn held it out to me, tears of joy on his face as I stared at the tiny girl on the photograph. I had felt nothing really, when I saw that picture, but that changed when I first laid eyes on her in person. Everything changed when she became a part of my life. My world revolved around her. Then I almost lost her, I was so focused on my own selfishness that I almost lost the greatest gift I had ever been given. She was more important to me than Shawn. Shawn. I missed him already, and I hadn't even been awake for five minutes. But I guess this would get easier in time. Everything always did.

But I didn't have time on my side. Not even a full week after I had to put Shawn in the ground I would be going to court to keep this beautiful child in my life and under my care. I cannot lose this; I cannot lose my husband and my baby. I knew I wouldn't survive both of them. Today I had to go to my lawyer's office and go over protocol for the hearing, ect, ect. I had been doing this for the past week. Everyday but Shawn's funeral, I had spent two hours in his office, going after every detail of my life with my child as I could remember. And I would have to do it again today. Mark was going to stop by today and watch her as I went.

Piper didn't know what was going on yet, but I knew I would have to tell her by Friday. She had to be at the hearing that would determine who had temporary custody of her, and then it would go from there. There was a chance that in six days time, I wouldn't even have my baby in this house to be strong for.

And it was that thought alone that kept me in bed several hours longer, just staring at my child as she slept. I gently wrapped an arm around him and rubbed her back, pressed butterfly kisses on her forehead, counting every breath she took. Thankful that, even though it was just for a little while, the world was quiet, and we had nothing to fear.

Once Piper did wake up, I sent her to the bathroom to shower and laid some clothes out for her to wear today, Mark was going to take her to the zoo, he was driving his motorcycle. I was not overly pleased about this, but I figured she needed something fun like that to get her back to being a kid. I reached a blind hand into the closet, grabbing the first pair of jeans I felt, and then I pulled on my shirt from yesterday. I combed my hair into a ponytail, I really needed to wash it, but I hadn't really had the desire, or the energy, to do it. So I sprayed a bunch of body spray on and went downstairs, where Mark was waiting, looking annoyed, outside the sliding door.

I walked over to it and let him in. "Why are you on the side door when the front door is more convenient to get to?"

"Do you know how long I stood there? Half an hour, ringing your doorbell and beating the shit out of your door. So I got sick of standing and decided to make use of the lawn chairs. How did you not hear me?" he asked, walking past me and taking the liberty again of fixing me a pot of coffee.

"I had the doorbell disabled the day after it went public, too many reporters and heart broken fans." I say as I open the fridge and drag out a carton of doughnuts left over from last night, "Want one?"

"No thanks. Where's the kid?"

"Taking a shower."

"Something you need to consider doing yourself Hunter. You smell like a junior high school boys' locker-room." he said, pulling out two cups from the cabinet.

"And you would know how one smells because?" I ask, dumping sugar into the bitter liquid Mark had poured in my glass.

"We both used to be junior high school boys Hunter. Remember? The horrid smell that sent the girls running?" he says, sitting down across from me.

"I wouldn't know; girls weren't really my main concern back then."

"True, but you did have straight friends." He says with a smile. I throw a napkin at him head, which he easily dodges. "They would know what I'm talking about."

"You're a real pain, you know that right?"

"Yep, but what would you do without me?"

"Not worry about my daughter on your moving death trap."

"She loves my motorcycle." Mark finishes as he takes a doughnut he refused not five minutes ago.

* * *

I waved to my daughter and Mark and her sped off, Mark purposely pulling the front wheel off the ground to annoy me. I turn around and go back into the house. I turn off the coffee maker, put the pot in the sink, run some hot water in it, then I put the glasses in the dishwasher. I go upstairs and walk into my bedroom. Quickly turning on the radio so the house wouldn't be so quiet, I turned to Shawn's bags that hadn't been moved from where I had dropped them by the door when we came home the day he passed away. I knew everything in the small bag I would have to go through. Some of the stuff in that bag was mine. The biggest bag I could just donate as is, but I figured I'd go through it anyways, and the extra bag had his ring gear, all that had to go to Vince. But I would go through it anyways.

The small bag was easy. I pulled a trashcan from the bathroom beside the bed and dropped Shawn's razor, comb, brush, old and broken hair-bands, deodorant, cologne, and shampoo in it. Shawn and I didn't use the same brand, and I knew I wouldn't be able to deal with the smell just yet. His newer hair-ties I set on the dresser, and while I was there, I cleared most of Shawn's belongs and toss what I could and saved what I wanted, and set the rest on a pile on the bed. Then I pulled all of my stuff from the small bag before I zipped it up and tossed it in the general direction of the closet.

My gaze turned towards the remaining bags, and just by the stinging against my eyes I knew I couldn't touch those yet. So I gathered my stuff and put it where it belonged, emptied the trash can before putting it back in the bathroom. Then I went to the pile of junk that I had gathered from the dresser. I made a trip downstairs and grabbed an old shopping bag, and then I dropped all of Shawn's pills in it and tied it up. I would drop it off at the doctors' office on my way to Adam's office. I stare at the over-the-counter creams and meds, knowing I don't use the creams, so I ended up tossing them in the trashcan, and I drop the pills I won't use in the same bag as Shawn's prescriptions. Placing the pills I would use back on the dresser.

I drop the pill bag and look the dresser. It was once the most cluttered space in this room. but not now. I had effectively removed and trace of Shawn from the dresser, minus the photo of the two us the summer before we adopted Piper. There are no longer random blue, black, and brown hair-ties lying all over, but a stack beside my comb and old brush. Pills and creams were no longer on every surface available in the room, but some run-of-the-mill-over-the-counter pills sat in a neat line in the middle towards the back, far away from Piper's wondering hands. Shawn's body sprays, deodorants, and cologne were long gone, out with the rest of that stuff. The smell would kill me.

Yes, there was still Shawn in this room; there would always be Shawn in this room. but I had taken the first step to recovering from him.

I grabbed the pill bag, pulled on my shoes and down the steps. I had half an hour before I had to be at Adam's, his office was only fifteen minutes away, but the graveyard was only ten.


	19. Eighteen: Cut Out

Chapter Eighteen: Cut Out

**This story is now at 100 pages on my Microsoft word! It is one page shy of being longer than Piper!**

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and Nat-Nat 360 (Welcome back btw) for the reviews on chapter 17. I'm sending you all a virtual chocolate chip cookies! (:'.) (.:') (',.:) enjoy!

**Thanks to: **All who read and add to alert lisits.

**Note: **Not too much to say other than, I know Shawn's real name is Michael Shawn Hickenbottom, but, since I'm using his ring name in this, I had to make up a middle name, the part of Steohanie's speech that is **bold** is from _A New Day_, so since there is a Stephanie speech, there is a Stephanie warning! That's really it.

**Personal: **OMG Triple H made me cry tonight! *sob* I've been a WWE fan all my life, HHH is the last of my childhood superstars. His speech was one of the hardest ones for me to watch. Thank you Hunter, for giving us something to remember you for every time you walked down that ramp!

**Warnings:** Same ole, same ole.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

It was more peaceful to me this time, as I walk through the gates of one of the smallest cemeteries in San Antonio. I wanted him in a smaller one; they seemed nicer and less creepy in my opinion. I walked a few steps until the fresh pile of dirt caught my gaze; I stopped moving and stared for a few seconds, then started towards it again. It was too soon for the headstone to be placed, so I knelt down beside the mound and read the tiny white note card that would mark it for now. "Shawn Mark Michaels" in tiny letters. I sighed and picked up a small clot of dirt and crumbled it up in my hand. I didn't say a word as I kissed my finger tips and set them at the head of the mound of dirt. My mind wasn't buzzing around either. Everything was just peaceful and quiet. I could barley hear the cars from the highway from here. I sat quietly by him. Just staring at his name card. I only moved when my watch alarm sounded, signaling the end of my visit. I had to get to Adam's office. I stood up, dusted the dirt off my legs and turned away.

* * *

"What do you mean I should have a bag packed on Friday?!" I ask as I shoo t up from my chair.

"Hunter, sit down. It's simply a precaution."

"Are you saying that I'm going to loose my daughter in less than a week?!"

"Hunter, sit down." Adam says, reaching across the table and jerking me back down to my seat. "Listen to me. We both know what we're up against when it comes to her lawyers. It doesn't hurt to be prepared. I'm telling you this to make things a bit easier on Piper. If they grant McMahon temporary custody, that will be a shock to her, hard for her to accept. But then she would have to go back to her hours to pack, making it even harder on her."

I sigh and rest my elbows on the top of his desk. "Do you think I have a chance of walking out with my daughter on Friday?"

"No, not on Friday. But Friday is temporary; I will do all I can to have her back with you by Monday when it goes to the main trial."

"Why do you think I won't have her the first day?"

"I know Judge Anderson; she likes to see how the child reacts to all possible situations, both sides. Piper won't like it at McMahon's, no question about it. But she will still want to see it first hand."

I stand up from my chair and pull my keys from my pockets as I walk to the door. "Hunter, where are you going, we're not done here." I stop with my hand on the door; I turn my head and look Adam right in the eye.

"If I loose my daughter on Friday, you better damn well make sure she is back with me on Monday, or I'll do it myself." And with that I walk out the door, slamming it shut behind me.

* * *

I storm to my car and can't help but punch the hood of the vehicle. "You seem tense." I hear a voice behind me, and when I whip around I see the devil.

"What do you want Stephanie?" she smirks and takes a few steps closer to me.

"Just enjoying the sights of San Anton. Seeing your lawyer?"

"Why are you doing this?" she just shrugs and walks closer.

"I don't know Hunter, maybe it has to do with something that sounded like this… **Stephanie, I don't love you, I love Shawn, he's the person I'm meant to be with**…ring a bell?" anger burnt in my gut as the realization dawned upon me.

"Are you saying all this is because I broke up with you?"

"Very good. Catch on quick doesn't ya."

"Stephanie, this is stupid-,"

"No, what's stupid is that you left me for him, you left me, me! Who could have given you everything! You gave me up for an old, broken, has been, alcoholic."

I felt my body move towards her and before I was aware of it, I was right in her face, but there was no fear in her eyes. There was just a glimmer of pure delight. She knew I couldn't do anything. If I hit her, I would have no prayer at a keeping my daughter.

"You're gonna get yours one day Stephanie. So watch who you step on." I turn from her and get in my car and drive off, ignoring her words that she sent my way.

"All you have to do is love me Hunter, love me and this will all go away!"

* * *

Mark's PoV

I had been to the zoo with Piper before, but never on my own, I usually had Hunter or Shawn along to help keep an eye on her, but no, I was alone. She was all over the place. One second she was looking at the monkeys, and I look down to respond to a text, look back up and she'd be gone, looking at the bears or lions. She loved the zoo, always had and probably always would. We had been here a little over an hour and she showed no sign of wanting to leave anytime soon. I spot the bobbing head of red hair by the flamingos before I look down and read my new text, it was from Hunter. **"Hey, where are you?"**

"**Zoo, where I told you I would be." **I type back, looking up and still seeing Piper gazing at the smelly pink birds. My phone buzzes again.

"**I know that, where in the zoo are you?"**

"**By the flamingos why?" **I send back, and receiving no reply. I shrug and go back to looking at the girl who is now gazing at the reptile house across from the birds.

"She wants to go see the snakes." I turn and give Hunter a curious look.

"What are you doing here, Hunter?" I ask, scooting down the wall so he could sit by me.

"I was basically told to pack her bag and give her to that bitch." He says with a huff.

"Slow down and start from the beginning."

"Hold on a sec, Piper, you can go on it, we'll wait out here for you." Piper eagerly nods and runs into the dark, damp exhibit. "Anyway, so Adam said to pack her bag for Friday, that I didn't have a prayer to walk out with her on Friday."

"So he thinks there's no way for you to win?" I ask, not believing what I was hearing.

"Not Friday, but he thinks we can on Monday."

"I'm still on my vacation Hunter, I'll be there both days, you're not gonna be alone."

"Thanks man. I ran into Stephanie in the parking lot."

"What?"

"Ya, she said that this was all my fault that all this is happening."

"She said what?"

"That this was all my fault. All because I left her for Shawn."

I couldn't say a word as I watched him shake his head and pop his neck. "I don't know what to say man."

"There's nothing to say. I just want this to be over." I nod and do what I saw Shawn do several times when Hunter was stressed. I placed my hand at the base of his head and massage the tense muscles that I found there.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

I pulled my sleeping daughter from the car as Mark unlocked my house. I carried her upstairs and put her in bed. I kissed her forehead and flipped the hallway light on and went back down the stairs. "She's so tired." I say as I go into the kitchen and get me a glass of water.

"I bet, she was bouncing all over the zoo."

"How was your first time watching her alone like that? Hard work huh?"

"I do not know how on earth you do it."

"Shawn and I used to trade on and off with it. Her sixth birthday I took her to the zoo while Shawn decorated the house. We would have switched, but we weren't together for her seventh birthday. And her eighth birthday was quiet, just the three of us." I smile at that memory as it flashed across my mind. We were all in our sweat pants and t-shirts, we ate delivery pizza and strawberry cake from a box.

"You guys weren't back to together too long when she turned eight were you?"

"No, it had only been a month and a few weeks."

"When are you going to tell her Hunter?" I look up at him, but I can only hold his gaze for a few seconds before I drop my gaze to the counter.

"I don't know, I was thinking Tuesday, after Shawn's memorial episode. That way she's not dealing with two things at the same time."

"Hunter, even telling her tomorrow is not going to make it easier. It's going to take her a while to get over Shawn, this is going to be hard on her too Hunter. When you tell her, be ready for anything."

"I know, it's just….I'm her father, Mark." I finally lock my gaze with his. "I should be able to keep her safe from all this."

"Hunter, you can't-,"

"No, I told her when we adopted her that she would be safe, now look at this. Shawn's dead and I'm loosing custody." I let out a breath and drop my head back and look at the ceiling. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this parenting stuff." A swift smack to the back of my head and my gaze was forced towards Mark. "Ow! What was that for?" I ask, rubbing the back of my head.

"If you ever say you aren't cut out to be a parent again I'm gonna hit you ten times harder."

"Okay, okay, jeeze." I say, still rubbing my sore head and moving to another seat, away from him.

"You're a great father, Mark. Don't you even think otherwise." Mark says as he stands from his chair, gives me a pat on the back then walks out of my house.

I sat up for most of the night, my mind was blank and it felt like the couch was going to swallow me up. I didn't do anything, didn't think anything, I just sat there. That was until a heard a scream rip me out of my state. I sighed and stood from my seat and walked up the steps. By the time I got to the top of the stairs her sobs were spilling out of her open door. I walked in and simply pulled her into my arms. Something about me just holding her quieted her down. After a few seconds, Piper was sound asleep. I carried her across the hall to my room and laid her down on the bed. I tucked her under the blankets before going back to her room and getting her penguin and shutting off the hall light. I tuck the toy under her arms, I change into my sweats and curl up in bed beside her, tomorrow was Sunday. The day Shawn was usually up with the sun and taking Piper to church. Maybe I keep taking her. Maybe I should keep that one thing she shared with Shawn alive.

I smiled as I rolled over and set the alarm for 9:00 am. The time Shawn always got up, even though he never left the house until 10:45.

* * *

Maybe 9 am was pushing my luck, I thought as my eyes snapped open to the horrid sound. I smacked my hand down on the clock, missing the button entirely, so I pulled the cord from the wall and dropped the clock on the floor. "Dada would tell you to pick that up." I roll back over and see the smiling face of my daughter.

"Yes, yes he would. You sleep okay baby?"

"Yea, are you gonna take me to church today?"

"Only if you want me too, I know that was you and your dada's thing."

"We always wanted you to come with us."

"I know baby. Why don't you go to your room, I'll run your water for ya?" she nods, crawls closer to me, kisses my nose, before climbing over me like a mountain, he knee hitting a not so pleasant spot. She giggles at my grunt of pain. I shake my head and stand up, trying not to hold myself as I go.

I just pile her eggs on her plate when Piper comes skipping down the stairs in her green jumper with maroon barrettes in her hand. "Daddy, can you fix my pigtails?" she asks as he holds the glittery things and a brush to me.

"Sure can, go eat, and I'll fix your hair when I come back down."

"Okay daddy." She drops the hair stuff on the table and goes over to her food. As she digs in, I go to the bathroom. I strip down and just before I step in my eyes catch sight of Shawn's shampoos, still sitting in the basket. I had forgotten about them the other day. I try not to think as I quickly pick the bottles up and tossing them in the trash, trying not to cringe as some squirts from the top and lands on my hand. The smell assaults my nose and I quickly turn on the water, washing the stuff away. A few tears follow the water down the drain as the smell lingers in the air.


	20. Nineteen: Stupid Pollen

Chapter Nineteen: Stupid Pollen

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89 and TheVampireLucinda for the reviews on chapter 18, I love the reviews! They are the highlight of my week! As well to all who read, follow, and favorite! I love getting new followers!

**Note: **The lateness of this chapter is due to the face that my internet service provider company is full of morons who can't fix a damn thing and the drivers could get lost even with the use of the best gps known to mankind! So I apologize for this horrid long wait. I have the next chapter already written, I'll post it whenever I can.

**Warnings:** Same ole, same ole. They're in a church, use your brains. Ha-ha.

Hunter's PoV

I held tight to Piper's hand as we walked from the car towards the church. I hadn't left this place on good terms. I used to attend weekly with Shawn but then some things were said and I left and never came back, until today. The closer we got the more I wanted to just turn around, but Piper's smile kept me from it. We walked up the steps and through the door. Not a thing had changed. The carpet was still blue and grey, the walls still white, pamphlets lined the walls, and the preacher stood by the door. He extended his hand to me. "Hunter, it's good to see you." I shake his head and nod, the preacher turns his gaze to Piper. "How are you little lady?" he asks, extending his hand towards her.

"Good." She says as she gives him a high five. "Is Mrs. Rosie here?"

"Sure is, why don't you go on to class and I can have a word with your daddy here."

"Okay, bye daddy!" and she let go of my hand and ran off down the staircase that was to my left.

"I never did get the chance, at the funeral, to give you my personal condolences. Shawn was a great man. It's a shame he died so young." I just nod, hoping to escape this conversation. "I know that your history is here isn't the greatest, but I thank you for bringing Piper today. Keep things as normal as possible is always a good help when grieving."

"She always liked coming here. It was her and Shawn's thing."

"Now it can be a Piper Hunter thing. Every time she walked out those doors she would say 'Daddy'll come soon.' Shawn ever tell you that?"

"No, he didn't. Shawn was too busy thinking of new ways to get me come."

"Maybe this will be a new start for you. Enjoy the service Hunter." He says as he walks away. I sigh and go sit on a back pew. Holding the bible Shawn had been planning on giving me on our wedding day in my hand. "I'm gonna give it a try Shawn." I whisper as Francis William steps up to the podium and I open the bible.

After church was a mess. When the last "amen" was said Piper was gone, out the door with her friends. By the time I was able to get away and round her up, she already muddied her shoes, put a few grass stains on her jumper, and lost a barrette from her now messy hair. "Pipe Jane Michaels Helmsley, if you don't get over her by the time I count to five your in trouble!" I only made it to two before she slid to a stop by my leg. "You wanna go eat lunch with Uncle John and Uncle Randy?" I ask, taking her hand and leading her to the car.

"Yes! I wanna see Josh!" I buckle her up and get in the car.

"We have to go home and get you cleaned up first. Do you do that every Sunday?"

"I did, but Dada stopped letting me do it after I landed in a huge puddle."

"I'm not letting you do it either."

"But daddy, its fun!" she protested.

"I'm sure it is, but you are not rolling down a huge hill in your nice clothes." I just grinned when she stuck her tongue out at me, so I stuck mine back out at her.

After a short stop at the house to change into comfortable clothes, we were on our way to the restaurant to meet John and Randy. "Daddy?"

"What?"

"Are you going back to work tomorrow?"

"You and I are going tomorrow, but I'm not going to go back full time for a few weeks."

"Why are you going tomorrow?"

"They are having a memorial episode for Dada."

"Really?"

"Yep, you okay with coming along?"

"Yes, I wanna come. Where is it?"

"Here in town, that's why we're not on a plane, baby." A few minutes later we were parking in the parking lot. We got out of the car and I held Piper's hand as we walked into the restaurant, a quick glance around the room and I spotted Randy and John towards the back.

"Hey guys." I say as I sit down, pushing Piper's chair in. "What have you guys been up too?"

"We took Josh to the zoo and we just lazed about the rest of the day. What about you?"

"Daddy took me to church!" Piper said, a big smile on her face, but John gave me a funny look.

"Really, I thought you weren't going back?"

"I did it for her, keeping something she did with Shawn alive." I say with a shrug.

"That's nice, what time are you guys showing up tomorrow night?"

"I'm not sure, probably normal time. I don't know if Vince wants me to say anything or not."

"Do you want too?" Randy asked.

"I don't know." I said, before I looked at the menu and pretended to read it, I already knew what I wanted here, this is where Shawn and I always ate if we didn't want to cook. I always got the same thing.

Lunch ended up being quiet, as usual once John's food got within six feet of his mouth. We talked and laughed, but all stories and conversation stayed far away from Shawn, or anything that involved Shawn. There was even a story Randy told where he substituted 'somebody said' where he normally would have said, 'Shawn said.' In some ways it made me annoyed that I was being treated like I might break, but then, better safe than sorry I suppose. After several attempts at saying goodbye, but ending up in another conversation, Piper and I were finally on our way back to our house.

Walking through the door of the house Piper quickly darted ahead of me and up the stairs, she was going to change into her lazy clothes and we were going to spend the rest of the day vegging out on the couch. We both decided the two of us needed a day, just sitting and watching TV, together. I went into the kitchen, kicked my shoes off by the bar-space, something Shawn always got mad at me about, considering he always seemed to trip over them. There was one message on the machine; I hit play and started emptying and reloading the dishwasher. "Hunter, its Vince. I'm calling about tomorrow night. I would like you to go out and give a speech about Shawn. If you feel up to it that is. The world knows about you and Shawn, and a few of them probably know about Piper too, but let me know tomorrow if you want to or not. Have a good night, see you tomorrow."

As weird as it was, I harbored no ill feelings towards my boss over what his daughter was doing. Vince probably knew what she was doing, but he had no power to stop it at this point. God himself probably couldn't stop her. She was hurt and lashing out. But that still gave her no excuse to do what she was doing. She was going to destroy my daughter if I lost her. Stephanie wouldn't physically hurt Piper, but there was no telling what she would do emotionally. Adam said I would loose her on Friday. Temporary though it would be, there was still a three day period I would be without her. I didn't want to face that.

I walked up the stairs after calling for some Chinese delivery. I walked into the bedroom and picked my sweats from the floor where I had kicked them off this morning and pulled them on before walking over to the closet and opening the door and cringing at the smell that still lingered in the air, I really need to clean up the mess I had made in here, the bottle I had spilled still sat on the shelf, lidless, making the smell that much stronger. I sighed and looked on the floor for the lid I had tossed away in my fit. I spot it lying under the rack that held Shawn's dress shirts. I grabbed the lid, shifting my gaze far away from the clothes I would soon have to dispose of, but I ignored for now. I screwed the lid back on and picked up the once full bottle and carried it to the bathroom. I dumped the rest of it down the toilet. Then I stared at the bottle.

It was even more harmless looking than before. I felt rage flood my chest. This was the reason Shawn was gone. This was the reason I had to fight tears when I took a shower, when I made coffee, when I simply walked into a room. With a scream I smashed the bottle against the sink, glass shattering all directions, and a piece slicing across the flesh of my palm. Seeing the blood I dropped what little remained of the bottle to the ground and collapsed against the tub. I just stared at my palm, the pain I was feeling was nothing compared to what Shawn had to of felt in his last moments of consciousness. I felt tears pickle behind my eyes. So I closed them, trying to stop them from falling.

Piper's PoV

I stopped trying to put my hair in a ponytail when I heard something break outside my room. I try to decide what to do. If I was with mommy I wouldn't dare leave to see what it was, but I wasn't there anymore. I was with my daddy. I slipped on my big kitty slippers dada had gotten me for my birthday last year and slowly open my door and peek around the corner. That bathroom light is on, and daddy's bedroom door is open. He must be in there. Maybe he dropped something. I would help him! I was on my way down the steps when I saw him leaning against the bathtub; I was tears on his face.

I stood and thought what I should do. I turned and walked slowly over to him. I saw him hand, there was a cut on it, it had to hurt. Dada always washed my hurts before he put a band-aid on them and kissed it. So I took a rag from the sink and walked over to daddy, carefully stepping over the broken glass that was all over the floor. The room smelled a lot like Dada had. I hoped daddy wasn't going to start smelling like it too.

I gently tapped him on his shoulder, he opened his eyes and looked at me, I held out the rag to him, before I looked down at his hurt. Daddy didn't take the rag though. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me on him lap and held me. I felt him shake, and I figured out he was crying. I don't like it when daddy cries. I don't know what to do to help. "Daddy, don't cry. Please don't cry." He sniffles and looks up at me.

"I'm sorry baby. Daddy's sad."

"I don't want you to be sad. Please don't be sad, daddy." I say as I hug his neck and feel my own tears. Daddy wraps his arms tight around me.

"I'm sorry Piper, Daddy is so sorry."

Mark's PoV

It was a short drive from the hotel to the cemetery Shawn was buried at. I don't know why I felt the need to go there, but after everything Hunter had told me yesterday, and knowing what was at stake, it just seemed like the right thing to do. It was very quiet when I slipped though the iron gate, the noise from the road barley audible. It didn't take long to see where he was at. There was no stone, but there would be soon. I walked over to the pile of dirt and sat next to it. There were flowers on the pile of dirt, some notes and letters, most of them probably from fans. I just looked at the name card and couldn't help but smile at his middle name, some of the jokes Hunter and I always had at Shawn's expense. Always saying Shawn was supposed to be with me but was hiding from the truth by being with Hunter. Shawn always turned red from annoyance or embarrassment, depending on how far we had taken the joke.

Shawn had died too young. He was only forty-five, he had too much of life left to live, too many things he needed to see. I never liked the thought of Piper being old enough to get married, but that was something Shawn should have fought harder to see. He needed to stay around long enough to see her to get married and have a family of her own. He should have sucked it up and fought harder. But it doesn't matter what I think. Shawn is gone and he won't get to see those moments. As well as a million more. I wish I could go back and call him out on what he was doing. It wasn't easy to spot that he was still doing it, or maybe I just didn't want to believe it. Looking back, there were so many signs that he was still drinking, hindsight really is twenty-twenty.

"Did you know Shawn?" I asked the pile of dirt. "Did you know how deep you were in? Did you think it would land you here? Did you think that something so simple, something they hounded us about in school, at work, would play a part in your death?" I knew I wouldn't get an answer, but it felt good to voice my feeling out loud. "I sure didn't see it ending this way for you. I pictured you growing old or dying in the ring." I laughed at the last part. Even though it was in no way funny. "It's cruel really. That I'll be the one seeing Piper graduate High school, and college. I'll make her go to college." I scratched my nose as the wind swept across the flat land and pollen flew through the air. "I'll see her get married, have her babies. If she even does that. Who knows, maybe she'll follow in your footsteps and bring millions of people to their feet by simply stepping out on the ramp." I rubbed my eyes, stupid pollen.

"Hunter's doing okay, better than I thought he would anyway. I don't know what he's gonna do without you though. He didn't even make his own coffee the other day; I know that's something you always did for him. even though you hated the stuff." Another rub to my eyes, followed by a few blinks. "But he'll be okay; he'll get along just fine without you. after all, that what you wanted right? You wanted him to be alone." More blinks, the damn pollen was making my eyes water. "You had to of been wanting him to be alone, I mean, why else would you have drank so much?" I blinked some more and shot to my feet.

"You bastard!" I yell as I kick at the dirt pile, sending dirt, flowers, and more of that god-forsaken pollen flying. "Why did you do that?! Do you realize what you did! You left us alone Shawn. You left an amazing husband and a beautiful baby alone. You left them to deal with your shit, Shawn!" I wiped at the wateriness of my eyes and just stared at where Shawn was buried. "Damn it, they need you! It's not my job to take care of them damn-it, it's yours!" I say as I drop back to my knees and just stare at it all. "I'm not you Shawn; I don't know what to say to Hunter to keep him going, I don't know what to say to Piper when she wakes up screaming. I'm just a friend Shawn. I'm not you." I drop my head and let my tears fall. Landing in thick drops upon the dirt, and slowly disappearing into the earth.

I finally calmed down and I lifted my gaze again. "But I promise you Shawn, I'll take care of them. They don't deserve to be punished because of your decisions." I stood up, wiped the dirt from my knees and turned from the gave, only taking a few steps before turning and staring at it a few more seconds, just taking it in, before finally turning back around and walking to my car, and driving away from the quiet cemetery.


	21. Twenty: Another Day

Chapter Twenty: Another Day

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway. I have nothing to do with Pine-sol or Neosporin.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, and Lazuli the Fallen Angel for the reviews on chapter 18, I love the reviews! They are the highlight of my week! As well to all who read, follow, and favorite! I love getting new followers!

**Note: **The lateness of this chapter is **still** due to the fact that my internet service provider company is full of morons who can't fix a damn thing and the drivers could get lost even with the use of the best gps known to mankind! So I apologize for yet **another long,** horrid long wait. I have the next several chapters written, I'll post them whenever I get a chance.

**Warnings:** Same ole, same ole!

Hunter's PoV

The doorbell ringing made Piper and I pull apart. I gently released my hold and she walked out of the bathroom as I got up and quickly wet the rag, wrapped it around my still bleeding cut, and went to the door. I gave the guy twenty bucks, told him to keep the change before I closed the door. I set the food on the counter, pull the containers from the sack before heading back upstairs. I freeze at the top when I see Piper carefully picking up the broken glass from the floor. I go back down to the kitchen and pull out the broom, dust pan, trash sack, mop, and _Pinesol _before going back up the stairs. I drop the supplies by the door, then drop to my knees and help her clean up the rest of the glass. Then I pick her up and set her on the sink before I sweep up what tiny bits we may have missed, then I mop the floor, lemon _Pinesol_ overpowering the horrid smell of the alcohol. I just drain the mop bucket when Piper calls for me.

"Daddy?" I turn and look at her, she has a box of band-aids in one hand, and the bottle of _Neosporin_ in the other. "You need to fix your hurt." I smile and step closer to the sink. I pull back the rag and she hands me the bottle, a squeeze some on the cut, then she hands me the box of band-aids, I smile when I see she got her "Hello Kitty" band-aids instead of the normal ones Shawn and I had. I fished out one of the right size and placed it over the cut. It didn't need one, but it was worth it seeing Piper give me a smile. She grabbed my hand and kissed the band-aid, the pressure made it sting, but she did it because it's what Shawn and I always did when she got hurt.

"Wanna go eat?" she nods and I pull her off the sink and she heads downstairs as I go back to my room. the reason all this happened was because I opened the closet to get a t-shirt. The main room now has a faint smell of the alcohol, I found myself getting annoyed. This is what happened when I was lazy with cleaning. I grabbed a t-shirt from the closet, pulled it on, and shut the closet door before going downstairs.

My daughter and I ended up having a wonderful evening. We watched movies, made a mess of the kitchen attempting to bake cookies, we ended up burning the fist batch, so we sat back on the couch and ate the cookie dough instead. I ignored every phone call, and just enjoyed my daughter. She fell asleep about midnight, but I didn't want to put her in bed. So I simply turned off the TV, put the empty bowel on the floor, pulled Piper across my chest as I lay down and covered us with a throw that was over the back of the couch. I smiled at the way she curled into a ball, something Shawn always did when he slept. Even though Piper wasn't biologically ours, she had picked up so many things from Shawn and I. I wrapped my arms around her and close my eyes. The first time in several days I don't fall asleep with my mind doing summersaults. Everything is still. Everything is calm. For the first time in a very long time, I'm not worried about tomorrow, I'm content with today, and the miracles that it has brought with it.

Mark's PoV

I got back to the hotel and decided to order room service and stay in for the night. Glenn was out with some of the guys, but I didn't feel like going anywhere. I ate, took a shower, and lazed around, watched TV and ate popcorn. Soon the clock said 10:00 pm and I decided to get some sleep. I had to be at the arena at 7 tomorrow, I was planning something special for Hunter and Piper at the show. I turned off the TV, and got under the blankets, kicking several of them off, hotels always gave you blankets like the room was the state of Alaska. It took me a few minutes but I finally fell asleep.

I found myself standing in the middle of the ring, a huge sign that said "WrestleMania 25" and I knew I was standing in the Reliant Stadium in Houston Texas that held last years Mania. The Mania I beat Shawn, the Mania that sent him to crazy-land for a few months. The arena was empty, the thousands of seats bare, the floor clean, the room cool. The stillness and quietness giving the place a creepy, uncomfortable feel. "Of all the places this is gonna happen at, it's here." I turn and see Shawn, dressed in the same blindly white gear he wore at our match, minus the heinous hat, standing by the empty, English announce table.

"Shawn?" I ask, he just smiles and slips through the ropes to the ring. He stands to his full, but short, height and smiles at me.

"Yea, it's me."

"But, your dead."

"That I am. This is kind of my last gift. I get to spend three more minutes with three people of my choosing."

"And you decided to waste one of them on me?"

"It's not a waste, Mark. My parents aren't the ones looking after my baby girl and my best friend. My sister's aren't looking out for them, you are."

"Shawn, I don't-,"

"I saw you kick my grave today, so I think you're a good choice." I feel shame at my actions. "It's okay, I deserved everything you said."

"It sucks without you Shawn. You've only been gone a week and it feels like a lifetime. I don't know what to do."

"Just do what you always do." He says as he turns and leans against the ropes, looking out onto the sea of empty seats. "How many times have we been in the ring and you gave me some of the best advice I ever heard."

"More times than I can count."

"And you were going off of instinct. That's all you need to help my family, Mark. Hunter and I don't sit and plan what to say to Piper when she needs us. We say what we feel will help at the time. Sometimes you don't even need to talk. Just hold her. the same goes with Hunter." He gives a small laugh. "More times than not that's what you do with Hunter." He sighed and turn and looked at me.

"I'm sorry Mark. I'm sorry I left you feeling like you had to clean up my mess."

"I really don't mind. If the positions were reversed you would do the same for me." I say, looking around one of the greatest WrestleMania set-ups ever. "We had an amazing match here." I say, wondering how he would take it.

"It was, the best of my career." He says, his hands rubbing the rope he was leaning on. "I'm sorry I went crazy on you after it." He gives another small laugh. "If I had a 16-0 streak I would have kicked my scrawny ass too. Now you're 17-0 without an opponent for next year."

"It was gonna be you." I say, looking at the man who I almost lost my precious streak too.

"I know, I bet it would have been good, but nothing compared to what we did here." Then we just sat in silence. I knew our time was coming to an end, the arena was slipping ever so suddenly at the edges. I walk over to Shawn and pull him into a hug. He's real. I feel him, I feel his warmth, I smell his shampoo, I hear him breath, this may be a dream, but it's the most real dream I have ever had. "Take care of them Mark, take care of them for me." His voice cracks, the arena slips further away from me.

"I promise Shawn." I just cling to him as the arena slips from my view and my arms are hugging empty air.

Hunter's PoV

To my dismay, I cant stay asleep. I sigh, kick the blanket off and maneuver Piper to where I am able to stand and I carry her upstairs to her room. after I tuck the blankets around her I turn on her night light, kiss her nose, and go back downstairs. I fix the blanket back across the couch before going to the supply closet and pulling out the rags and brushes and grabbing the trashcan before going to up the steps, grabbing and filling the mop bucket with warm, soapy water, and heading to my closet. Again, I cringe at the smell before walking in. I open the chest and throw every bottle in the trash, the final bottle count being twenty-three. I then proceed to scrub the carpet where the vial liquid had spilled, the smell getting weaker and weaker until it was gone, over powered by the lemon. I stood up, sprayed the room with the air freshener Shawn had bought, complaining that my shoes made the room smell like feet.

Feeling accomplished that I had cleaned and got rid of more stuff I decided to go through Shawn's shirts. I went back downstairs and got a roll of black bags and went to the closet. I tossed them all in the bag. They were too small for me, and I didn't need to keep any of them. I tossed bag after bag next to the door, I would drop them off at a charity tomorrow. By the time I felt weariness set in I had gone though his shirts, pants, and shoes. The closet seemed empty now. But I knew it had to be done. But I couldn't brave his t-shirts. I knew that that section of his clothes I would find several shirts dating back as the start of his career. There would be several DX shirts, several of my shirts, probably dating as far back as the start of our friendship. There would be Undertaker shirts, Cena shirts, Ric Flair shirts, you name the wrestler, he would probably have a shirt for them. Not to mention the shirts he had gotten at concerts and tours, there would be a shirt from every state in the US. He was a t-shirt collector. It would be the hardest thing to tough. I wouldn't give them to charity though. No, I would give some to Piper, keep some for myself, give some to his sister's, his parents, people at work, who knew. But I wasn't going to touch them. Not tonight. I walked out of the closet and tossed my t-shirt to the floor before turning off the light and falling into bed. Closing my eyes and falling to sleep surprisingly easily.


	22. Twenty-One: Haunted

Chapter Twenty-One: Haunted

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: Sonib89, TheVampireLucinda, Clayhammer 1000, and Paula-may for the reviews on chapter 20, I love the reviews! I look forward to them SO much. I cannot express my thanks you to all enough!

**Note: **The lateness of this chapter is no longer due to my internet, but to my own brain. This happens every time I write a story. I have my story all laid out, but then, my brain decides that the story would be much better if something else happens. So, all the chapters I wrote while my net was down are now scrap. So, enjoy this short chapter.

**Also: **I changed the name and summery of the story!

**Warnings:** Same ole, same ole!

Hunter's PoV

The following morning I slowly climbed out of bed before the alarm even went off. I went straight down the stairs, not even glancing into Piper's room. I didn't feel like cooking breakfast today, so I went to the living room and collapsed on the couch. Despite my restful sleep I was very tired. I reached for the remotes, but it was too far away, so I left it where it lay. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. My whole body felt heavy, it was hard to move and it took a lot of motivation to do the simplest things. Even breathing felt like a chore. I opened my eyes and looked about the room. There wasn't a bare spot on the walls. I looked at every photograph on the wall and I felt nothing as I saw picture and picture of Shawn. I only spared our wedding picture a passing glance before moving past it to one of myself and Piper, but even that one had a passing glace.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I heave myself off the couch and over to my phone. I call and ask my mother if she would be willing to watch Piper for me until six when I would pick her up and we would go to the arena. She quickly agreed and I forced myself back up the steps to my room. I dragged myself over to the closet, but I ended up pulling on a pair of track pants and a t-shirt. I grabbed one of the sacks I had piled up last night and drug it half across the hallway before deciding it was too heavy and left it where I dropped it before I went back down the steps, where I again fell like a bag of bricks on the couch. I prayed Piper would stay asleep till I left. I didn't want to deal with her right now.

My mother arrived in due fashion and I was out the door before she even said hello. I got in the car instead of the SUV; the car was lower to the ground. I drove very slow, pissing a lot of people off in the process, but I couldn't find the energy to care. I drove to the outskirts of San Antonio before I turned back around. I felt my stomach growl, but when I pulled into a drive-thru to order food I couldn't force myself to talk so I drove off. I pulled into a gas station and it took me a few mental pep talks before I got out of the car. By the time I walked in, got my sandwich, and got back in the car, I felt like I had ran a mile with a 1000 pound weight on my back, and I didn't have the desire to eat what I had just worked so hard for. I put the car in drive and drove the four miles to the roadside rest area. I parked under a tree, rolled my windows down, put the seat back, and closed my eyes.

The sounds of the other vehicles around me were hurting my ears, but I had no energy to roll up the windows or turn on my radio. I hadn't put on socks and my feet were hot and gross in my shoes, but I didn't care. My phone rang, didn't care. People came up to the car and sent condolences or asked for autographs, but I didn't even more or respond. I didn't care. _There's nothing to care about anymore_. I thought. Shawn was gone, he was just lying about, so why couldn't I? He was able to toss in the towel, so why couldn't I? I didn't care enough to answer my own question, even though I knew exactly why I couldn't just shut down. Even though it was all I wanted to do. I wanted to shut down and be left alone.

Mark's PoV

The wake-up call was not one I wanted to take, but I woke up anyways, thanked the dude at the desk, the dragged myself to the shower. As I stood under the hot spray, the dream I had last night washed over my mind. It was so real. I had seen Shawn, I had held him. He said it was his final gift, creep gift. But, regardless of whether the dream was real or a result from barley getting any real sleep for the past week aside, there was some good advice in it.

I don't know why I doubted myself. I had been the one who had taken care of Piper when Shawn left Hunter, I was the one who held her when she cried or made her laugh. I could take care of Piper. I had done it enough last year. But Hunter was another story. The boy had his break down at the hospital, but hasn't really had one since. Some might see it as a good thing, but I didn't like it. I bet if I went to his house I would see Shawn's stuff packed. Hunter didn't know how to give things time. He just jumped in and did it. His mind probably telling him it would have to be done anyways, might as well make it happen.

After a snatching a few pieces of bacon off the try of food Glenn ordered for his breakfast I was out the door. I had stuff I had to do today. I got in the rental and drove to the arena. Since it was about seven in the morning there were not many people here at all, so I was able to get a very good parking spot. I walked in, found the locker room, dropped my bag on the bench then made my way down the hall to the garages and walked into one of the production trucks. I had made a request the day after Shawn had passed. This was going to be for everyone who needed to remember the man. But most of all, it was to let Hunter know he wasn't alone. That someone was there for him and his daughter.

Hunter's PoV

More ringing of my cell phone, but I still didn't move. The sun was higher in the sky, no more people came up to the car, and I still didn't touch the food I had forced myself to get. All I wanted was to be transported home and back in my bed. I wish it wasn't Monday, maybe I wouldn't even go. If I didn't pick up, I wouldn't have too. I do have to really. My chest feels tight, it hurts to breath. I force another gulp of air in my lungs and use all my strength to pull myself up into a sitting position. I right the seat and back out of the park. I make a left onto the highway and drive till a two-story brick house with a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. Our old house. Nobody had bought it yet, and I still had a key. I pulled into the drive way and parked the car. I got out and walked up the steps and entered through the door.

Flashback

"I love this house!" Shawn said as he came bounding down the stairs. "This is the house, Hunter! This is home." He had been there an hour longer than I had; my tuxedo had taken longer to fit than his had.

"Shawn, I just got here, and this is the first house we've seen." I saw, walking around the empty, echoing living room. "I think we should look around some more."

"No, Hunter, this is it. This is home." He jumped on my back and wrapped his arms around my neck, he was shaking with happiness. He was glowing with happiness. Our engagement had seemed to reenergize him and he was practically bouncing off the walls at any given moment.

"Shawn, you need to let me look around." I saw as I gently shove him off me and walk towards the rather spacious kitchen. I wouldn't be spending much time in this room, cooking was Shawn's thing. So I bypassed it and went to the dinning room. There were huge windows that overlooked the wooded area behind the house. "How much land is there?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter!" Shawn said as he grabbed my arm and attempted to pull me away from the view. I jerked my arm and he lost his grip, loosing his balance before he was able to catch himself.

"I wanna take a look back there." I say and turn from the window, only to find Shawn less than an inch from me. I jump back a bit.

"Before you do that, let's go look up stairs and then let's have a look outside."

"That's the most intelligent thing you've said all day." I said with a smile that quickly faded when his boot connected with the middle of my back. His laughter rang through the empty house as he dodged out of my grip and up the steps.

Present Day

Shawn had always loved this house. When I finally gave in and we bought the only house we had looked at, he had taken to it like a duck to water. He wanted new furniture and my green leather recliner had no place in _his_ living room. I refused to part with it, so it went to the den. I ended up finding him in the stupid thing more than myself. You could see the outlines on the wall where our stuff had hung for years. There was a hole in the wall by the hall closet door from where Shawn had rammed the corner of the kitchen table through it. There was a rack mounted on the wall that he had made that we decided not to take with us to the new house. Even in this house, one we hadn't lived in for a month was Shawn. He was everywhere I went and it was driving me to the edge.

I ran my hands up and down my face; I was being followed by him. I saw him everywhere. While I was cleaning his closet I could have sworn I felt him watching. I was falling apart, and in so many ways, I longed to do just that. I wanted it all to be over. I didn't want to be strong anymore. I didn't want to be alone anymore. I stumbled over to a wall and slid down in. I leaned my head against the light brown wall Shawn had painted and stared down the hallway. I could see the stairs and just make out the tops of the doors that were our rooms. I kept my gaze straight ahead as my phone rang once again in my pocket.


	23. Twenty-Two: Caving In

Chapter Twenty-Two: Caving In

**I'm back!** Goodness me! Talk about writers block and downtime! I am sooo sorry for the wait, almost a month! Lame. But I am back! I have a direction and my motivation back! I cannot wait to get this train going again! Thank you for you patience and please enjoy this long awaited update.

Reviews are always lovely to get, they help keep my lazy self motivated and my brain pumping!

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Special thanks to**: TheVampireLucinda, and triplehlover0212 for the reviews on chapter 21! I am sooo sorry I made you wait so long!

**Warnings:** 3 PoV jumps, but other than that, the same old stuff!

**ENJOY**

Mark's PoV

I stepped out of the production truck with a sad smile on my face. The video I had helped piece together was a work of art, it was the best and worst of Shawn, but each clip showed his skill, and his devotion. I had laughed at almost every clip on the tribute, but the best moments had to be the ones where I felt somber, the clips that showed the real Shawn. His match with Ric Flair being among those moments, I put as many clips that I could find that involved Hunter and Piper in the video, there wasn't very many, as they tried, very successfully I may add, to keep her from being noticed. But that made the ones I was able to find all the more precious. Looking back at some of those helped me remember how cute and shy she was when they first adopted her, almost nothing like the little girl I knew now. Back then she would hide behind Hunter or Shawn when I came around, now she comes running as if I was Santa Claus at Christmas time.

I got back to the locker room and grabbed my jacket and iPod then I walked over to a corner and sprawled out on the floor and closed my eyes. I had hours until the rest of the roster showed up; I may as well get a power nap in.

*Ring* *Ring*

I groan and reach into my pocket and put the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Uncle Mark?" I instantly sat up.

"Piper, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just wanting to talk to somebody, daddy's not here, and grandma is busy cleaning."

"Where is your daddy?"

"I don't know, I woke up and he was gone. Are you gonna be there tonight?"

"Sure am, baby, I'm already here."

"Could you come get me? It more fun there than here. Grandma is boring."

"I'd love to baby, but I cant." I actually could, but she needed to be with Hunter when they showed up later in the night.

"Okay." Her disappointment almost made say screw the plan.

"I'm really sorry, baby, but I'll see you tonight okay?"

"Okay. Uncle Mark?"

"Yea?"

"Will things get better again?"

I let out a small sigh as my mind raced to find a good answer. "In time they will. All things take time, Piper. Just like when your daddies were going through their separation, things were dreary then too, but then what happened?"

"They got back together."

"Exactly, and things got brighter didn't they."

"But daddy isn't come back this time." I closed my eyes as I heard her voice break over the phone.

"No, Piper, no daddy isn't coming back this time. But that doesn't mean things won't get better. You just gotta keep believing in your dada, and remember your daddy with all your heart. He may not be where you can see him, but he's here. He wouldn't leave you all alone."

"He never got better did he? Never got better from what made him go away the first time." The last part wasn't a question. I wished I was there to hold her, she sounded so small and upset. I could see her face all red and blotchy when I closed my eyes.

"No, he didn't. but you mustn't blame him, Piper, lots of people get sick that cant get 100% better, but you daddy got better enough to spend more time with you. He loved you Piper, and you cannot forget that."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, Piper, I'll see you tonight, okay."

"Okay, bye-bye."

"Bye."

I slid the phone closed and let out a breath. That was the most heart-wrenching conversation I had ever had with my goddaughter, and I hated that it was over the phone. I just wanted to get in the car and get her, but she needed to work out her emotions for herself. She was very smart for an eight year old, and she had been through more deaths than most adults. She knew what happened, and what had to happen. She would be okay; enough time just had to pass. I was, however, very worried about Hunter. He had never been through anything like this, his parents and siblings were still alive, and his grandparents had all died before he was old enough to remember them. He was in the unlucky batch where the first to go was his husband and best friend for years. I had an idea of how he would deal; I just hoped I was wrong.

Hunter's PoV

I don't know how long I sat there before I finally got the strength to pull my cell from my pocket. I sighed when I saw "6 missed calls" and "4 text messages" flash across the lit-up screen that had a background image of Shawn and Piper playing on a random beach somewhere. I quickly changed the wallpaper to a generic AT&T wallpaper and read the text messages.

From: Mom

Hunter, pick up your phone or call me please. Piper is asking for you. Mom.

From: Randy

Hey man. U need 2b at the arena 8. I was told 2 tell u.

From: Mom

Son, call me please. Mom.

From: Mom

Piper is up and is wanting you. Call me please.

I sighed at the ones from my mother. I left her in charge of Piper so I could focus on whatever the hell was up with myself, but I guess that wasn't going to happen. That annoyed me, and the fact Randy texted like a twelve-year-old girl annoyed me too. But at least he used periods and capitol letters. John's texts were long, never-ending sentences. All my missed calls but one were from my mother, the one was from Vince; tell me the same thing Randy's message did. God I wished I didn't have to go. But I knew I couldn't blow it off. Memorial nights were very hard, but they often helped the "recovery" as everyone called it. It wouldn't kill me and it would be good for Piper, because right after this, we have the trial, one that I haven't even told her about yet.

I grudgingly stand from my place on the floor and walk out of the house, thoughts of the trial now swimming across my mind. Images of Piper being taken from me, her crying as she is forced into the skinny, fake-tanned arms of Stephanie burn behind my eyes. Images of me standing all alone while she is ripped from my life leaves my insides frozen as I get in the car and back out of the drive lane. I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to remove the false images from my mind, but all I see is I'm alone and Piper is gone. The coldness is replaced by anger. This was all Shawn's fault. If he hadn't of left me I wouldn't have went to Stephanie, he didn't show up and want me back, I wouldn't had broken up with Stephanie, if he hadn't drank he would be here with me. It was all his fault!

The drive back home was shorter than I had hoped. I sighed as I pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. But I didn't get out, I just sat and gazed into the garage, a place I hadn't even considered having to touch, but as I looked at all of his stuff that was in this room, I was filled with annoyance. Why couldn't all his crap go with him! That's what it did when he left me the first time! I thought bitterly as I pulled myself from the car and slammed the door shut. I walked over to the gun rack on the wall that held all his hunting rifles and bullets. I pulled the guns down and carelessly tossed them into the back of the truck, the safety hazard not even a factor as I continued grabbing them from the wall and throwing them away from me. When I cleared the first rack, I tossed the ammo, the knives, and the various cameo and orange hunting jackets and vests with the guns.

"Hunter! What are you doing?!" I heard the voice, but I didn't stop as I moved to the next rack of hunting gear, more guns and several bows. "Hunter, son, stop!" but I didn't listen, just kept tossing them into the truck. A tug on my arm, I just shoved it away. I wanted Shawn gone; I didn't want to deal with these emotions anymore. I didn't want to be reminded of him everywhere I went. I hated that he left, but I hated what he left behind even more. It wasn't fair! More weapons landed in the back of the truck as I cleared out the last rack. I bent and picked up his huge tool box and, just as I had with the rest of the stuff, carelessly tossed it into the back of the truck, onto all the possibly loaded guns.

"Daddy?" and a loud, thunderous bang seemed to fill my ears at the same time as the toolbox landed in the back of the truck bed. The world seemed to stand still.

Randy's PoV

"John! We need to go now! Or we are going to miss our flight!" I yell as I stomp down the stairs. For the life of me, I have no idea why decided to leave Monday morning instead of Sunday night, like we usually do. John was always running behind, and today was no different. He didn't pack last night like I told him too, and now, we had to leave and his clothes were still in the dryer.

"Keep your pants on Randy, they just had five more minutes to go!" his voice came from the direction of the laundry room, the only room, besides the kitchen, I would always find him in. I head that direction, wheeling his empty suitcase behind me.

"If you did this last night, like I told you, we would already be on our way to the airport." I grumble as I drop the bag on the floor next to John, where he is crouching in front of the dryer, watching the clothes spin around in a circle.

"But then you wouldn't be all stressed and bothered. I gotta keep things interesting, Randy. If you didn't have me, your life would be boring." He says with a smile as he tosses a bit of dryer lint at me. I scowl as it bounces off my forehead.

"I like boring, John. Boring is a good thing. You don't keep our lives boring, you keep them in constant chaos." I say as I turn and leave the room, but not before another ball of lint hits the back of my head.

I walked into the kitchen and proceeded to do all the stuff he hadn't done yet like I had asked. I turned off the coffee pot and rinsed it out, and as I pulled the clean dishes from the dishwasher I couldn't help the annoyance that always hit me on mornings like this. John, in so many ways, was a huge child. He hated chores; he hated work in general that wasn't wrestling. He could pick up and slam the Big Show, but he couldn't be bothered to put his plate in the dishwasher. I slammed a cabinet shut and came face-to-face with a serious looking John. "What?" I say as I pull a pan from the rack. "The dryer boring now?"

"I'm sorry Randy." That stopped me in my tracks. I close the pan drawer and look at John's face. His blue eyes, usually flashing with mischief were solid and there were small wrinkles at the edges.

"For what?"

"I don't know, for whatever I've been doing that has been setting you off a lot recently."

"Setting me 0ff?" I say, annoyance creeping back into my mind.

"Yea, you've been giving off a "pissed off" vibe since Shawn's funeral. You're getting short tempered with me, yelling at Josh for the littlest things, you're going off on every person who comes within six feet of you and I wanna fix whatever is wrong with you."

"So you're saying sorry, even though you don't know why?"

"I just said that!"

"Then it's not an apology, its just a means to an end. An end that you want."

"Oh, I want my husband happy, I'm a freaking monster!" he yells as he tosses his hands in the air.

"I didn't say that you were! All I'm saying is don't bullshit with me. If your going to apologize, it better be for something you've done. I don't just wake up and decide to "go off" on people. People make me "go off" on them!"

"People make you go off? What on this earth has Josh done to deserve that from you!?"

"Maybe it's because of how he is acting!"

"How is he acting?" he challenged.

"Like you!"

And just like that, the heated temperature in the room dropped to a freezing cold and John stopped his movements and stared at me. "John-John I didn't mean it-,"

"Whatever Randy. I think I'll catch my own flight and get my own clothes." All I could do was stare after him as he walked out the door, closing it quietly behind him.


	24. Twenty-Three: Mull It Over

Chapter Twenty-Three: Mull It Over

**The best thing ever: **Minus another delay, I give you another chapter!

Have I mentioned how much I adore TheVampireLucinda, Sonib89, and Paula-May lately? Because if I haven't, this is the best time to say, "I freaking love you all!"

**Special thanks to**: All of my readers and subscribers, and the favorites! Without all of you, I wouldn't keep doing this!

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway. Because if I did, Vickie would **NOT** be in charge of Monday Night Raw.

**Warnings:** Notta!

**Note: **The book talked about is called **Tuesday's With Morrie** by **Mitch Albom. **It is an amazing book that I had to read while in Middle School and I fell in love with it!

**Also: **I think I have made my final decision as far as this story is concerned, and there is maybe three or four chapters left, but who knows, as often as I change my mind, this may be six to ten more chapters. We shall just have to wait and see!

**ENJOY**

Hunter's PoV

A scream filled my ears as Piper flung her arms over her head and dropped to the floor. The world seemed to still as my eyes fell on the black, smoking circle in the wall, mear inches from where Piper had been standing. I just stood still as time began to move again, the reality of what had just happened wouldn't allow me to move. My mother's mouth was moving, but all I heard was Piper's terrified voice. My mother was embracing my quivering child and holding her close, but I couldn't move. I just stared at the hole in the wall, my whole area of focus converged onto that single spot, that spot, could have taken away the last hope I had for this life. I had almost killed my child.

I see my mother lead my child back into the house, but I don't follow, instead I turn around and walk out of the garage and around the house. The back of this house, similar to our old house, had a small wooded area and there was even a small pond, two things Shawn demanded we have so he could hunt without having to go too far from home. This pond didn't have a dock but we did bring some old chairs back there. I walked towards the dirty pond and sat down in one of the chairs. My mind was still surprisingly blank. I knew that I needed help now. I was loosing my sanity and I couldn't stop long enough to fix things myself. I never really dealt with my own feelings as far as Shawn went. Sure, I had cried, I had ranted, I had been numb, but I never really dealt with the real issues that surrounded his death.

I sat and stared at the pond, but a bird chirping in the background caused me to look up where I caught sight of Shawn's deer stand, one of his many, he pretty much kept one up year round, before we adopted Piper Shawn and I would always climb up trees and just sit and talk. A tree is where we made the decision to adopt in the first place. But now, that stand would be empty, the deer would have one less hunter to evade. But even with those two changes the world still went on. Hunters would hunt; deer stand would be sat in, just not for me. Shawn was gone, but the world had to keep spinning. For this reason alone I thought back to a book I was forced to read in High School, it was about an old teacher that developed ALS, and one of his former students that learned about life as his old teacher lay dying. Shawn was gone, but things had to keep going. I just don't know if I'm strong enough to keep going like the student in the book.

* * *

John's PoV

The whole taxi ride to the airport was a grating one. I had walked out of the house without my suitcases or my plane ticket. I knew Randy and my son would be at the airport as soon as they could, but would they have my stuff? Probably, Randy and I may be having problems, but he wouldn't leave me stranded. I wish I knew where our problems were coming from, but I think they were coming from Randy's fears. He had been acting off since Shawn had passed; he kept an annoyingly close watch on Josh and demanded to know where I was at all times. It was a little confusing, it's not like Shawn was mugged and beat to death, but something about the situation involving our closest friends had him on edge, and he needed to get over it.

I didn't touch alcohol, and if I ever catch word that Josh was, that boy wouldn't be able to sit down for a month.

I get out and pay the driver when the taxi comes to a halt and I walk through the front doors and sit on a bench right beside them, it's not like I can go very far right now. Randy has to come by this gate to get through to the main terminal, I just had to play the waiting game, and hope he wasn't going to be overly pissy when I did see him.

* * *

Randy's PoV

"Dad. What does he pack to make his bag so heavy?" I look back at Josh as he struggles to get John's massive bag in the back of the car.

"His ego." I mumble as I pull the bag from his hands and throw it in the trunk, a smirk of joy when I hear the contents bang together, I hoped something broke. I set my bag and Josh's on top and close the trunk. Josh climbs into the front seat and I lock the door. The drive to the airport is short, but Josh has a way of making things seem long. "What are you guys fighting about this time?" I glance his way and see he's still looking out his widow, the breeze from the vent blowing his black hair away from his face.

"We just had a tiny disagreement, nothing to worry about."

"You and pop have been having these "tiny disagreements" a lot lately." He said, still not shifting his gaze from the passing trees.

"It happens son, sometimes, married people have fights, but they get over them, and everything will be fine."

"Or they don't get over them and they get divorced."

"Josh, is that what you think is going to happen?"

"Why shouldn't I think that? You guys are fighting, that's what happened to Uncle Shawn and Hunter. You guys hardly spend time together anymore, you take separate cars to work, you spend more time with other people than pop, and you're acting just like Uncle Shawn and Hunter."

"But you're forgetting something." I say, even as the truth of what he was saying sunk in.

"And what is that?" he seemed to think he nailed everything on the head, and for the most part, he had.

"Your father and I are not Hunter and Shawn. Sure, the situations are similar, but there is one big difference between us son."

"And what is that?"

"Your father and I haven't given up. I love your pop, and nothing will ever change that. He and I have been through too much to throw it all away, even for a moment."

"But you fight all the time, it just seems so bad."

"I know, but he and I splitting up is one thing you will never have to worry about, okay?"

I look over at my son as I pull into the parking space, and our conversation draws to a close. Josh looks back at me, his brown eyes, always an odd coffee with too much cream color, seemed to make the world still so he could focus on what I was saying.

"But what if you stop loving him."

"I never will, so don't worry about it. Ten bucks he's sitting on a hard bench inside the door. He will be fiddling with his hat bill and looking around like a paranoid person."

That made Josh smile, nothing made me feel happier and more accomplished then helping my son. These moments were getting further and further apart the older he became. Some times it's hard to believe that this pre-teen is the same one year old John and I held in our arms, the same child we diapered and spoon feed all those years ago. He was tall for his age, about three inches taller than normal, but he was built like a bean stalk. The tiny white scar above his left eye the only reminder of the car accident that claimed the lives of his biological parents and older brother. We got out of the car and I grabbed my bag and Johns and together we walked towards the front doors of the airport. I had gotten lucky and was able to reserve a spot in the closet parking lot, so we didn't have to take a Tran to the doors. It truly was an amazing feat that John and I had our family, and maybe he was right, maybe we could handle two kids, after all, we did amazing with Josh.

Just as I thought, we walked through the heavy glass doors and there was John, his green and white hat in his hand, the bill bent in a way that would drive him crazy when he would out it on his head. Josh walked up to him and asked him for something before John took out his wallet and Josh headed towards the vending machine, his favorite past time was to drink a can of soda before check-in. something John had used to do with him when Josh was six. I walk over to John and set his bag by his feet and sit down next to him. "Ya know, it proves more of a point if I don't have to bring your bag and ticket it you." I say as I pull his ticket from my pocket.

"A person doesn't usually think about stuff like that when their upset, Randal."

Ouch, full name.

"Look, John, I don't want to fight about this anymore."

"I don't either, but the fact that you won't even listen to my side drives me crazy. What is so wrong about wanting another child? I love Josh, and I think he deserves a sibling. The two of us had siblings, and how great is it; I want Josh to have that."

"But there are more things to consider besides Josh, John."

"We figured it all out last time, we can do it again. I'm pretty sure Mr. West prefers this privet tutor stuff over being a teacher in a public school-,"

"It's not that stuff, what about work. I think Vince is thinking about keeping family off the road. Too much of a liability."

"So, other people have families that don't travel with them."

"Those people have spouses that don't work for the company."

"We could make it work though. I know we can." I sigh and look at my watch.

"We need to go check in John, or we're gonna miss our plane." He just nods and looks as sad as before. I take his hand and pull him up, and we make our way to check-in, and thought the maze that is the terminal.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

The peace of the woods is startled as loud footsteps break across the fallen leaves; I just stare forward as my mother sits down beside me. She lays her hand across mine and stares out at the pond with me. I grip her much smaller hand in mine and run my thumb across the top of her thumb, over the familiar bump that has been on her hand since I was little. "How did you get this again?" I ask, pressing down a little so she knows what I'm referring too.

"Your father missed the picture frame and hit my hand with his nail gun." She lets out a little chuckle. "He slept on the couch for a week, but that's what he gets to nailing without looking." Even I smile at that.

"Sounds like dad."

"Sounds like you too." And the light-heartedness is gone. But before I can turn away, she speaks.

"Hunter, what happened back in a garage was an accident-,"

"I could have killed her mom; I could have killed my child. What kind of parent am I?"

"The best kind." I look at her and at her smile I feel my guilt lessen a tiny bit. "You are a parent that is trying there very best to get through a horrible situation. You're having to deal with something very few people have had to deal with. You've lost your husband, best friend, brother, partner, and everything else Shawn was to a horrible accident. The details around his death make everything harder. There were still so many unresolved issues between Shawn and you, but you went a head and got back together anyway. You loved him and he loved you. And for most that would be enough."

"Why do you think you didn't confront him on his drinking?"

"I don't know-,"

"Bull, you know perfectly well why."

"Why then?" I ask, getting defensive, she didn't know what she was talking about.

"What right did you have to point out his fault when you, yourself had done so much wrong. What right did you have to condemn him for something when you had been forgiven for doing something much worse?" Maybe she did know what she was talking about. "Did I hit the nail on the head?" all I could do was nod.

"I don't know what to do, mom. I know that when I walk into the court room on Friday, I'm going to loose her. I don't think I can survive that. I know I won't. I don't have a prayer to keep her, and now, with what just happened, it's not safe for her to be with me at all. At least, not until I get my own head on straight."

"Why don't you sign her over, temporarily, to that Mark fellow you are always talking about, her godfather."

"Mark? I don't know-,"

"You said you need help, and you're right. You need to take some time for yourself, and with all that is going on, you can't just take a break from reality. If you sign guardianship over to Mark, wouldn't that make the lawsuit go away? The case is only against you, and if you don't even have rights to her, the suit goes away, you can get some help, and Piper will still be taken care of."

"I don't know, mom, I'm still giving up my daughter."

"But not forever, as soon as you move on and get better, you can have her back. This is not a healthy or safe environment for your daughter. You just said that." I just shake my head and look back over the pond.

"I don't know mom, I just don't know what to do."

"This is just an option, Hunter. You don't have to make the decision right now. Give it some time, mull it over." She stands up, kisses my head, and walks away. Her footfalls breaking the leaves, until the woods fall silent once more.


	25. Twenty-Four: Moving the Pieces

Chapter Twenty-Four: Moving the Pieces

**Boring and Short Chapter Alert! **But, things must be moved into place before the big finale

**To The Always Amazing:** TheVampireLucinda, Sonib89, and KaiEstevez, Thank you all for the amazing, wonderful, highly anticipated, and motivational reviews!

**Special thanks to**: All of my readers and subscribers and the favorites! Without all of you, I wouldn't keep doing this!

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**Warnings:** Notta!

**Note: **Sorry for the boring and short chapter, and unfortunately, there may be a longer wait for the next chapter. Partly because I will be traveling the rest of this week, and, if everything goes the way I have it planned, the next chapter will be long, it will be sad, and it will be factual. That is what is going to take the longest I'm afraid. So, I hope everyone has a safe and amazing Thanksgiving, and if you're going Black Friday shopping as I am, be safe! :)

**ENJOY**

Hunter's PoV

I help Piper's hand as we walked through the back stage area of the arena. I was stopped often by friends and acquaintances, they all said basically the same thing, but it was still nice all the same. I knew Mark was around here somewhere, I just hadn't found him yet. This was a very odd experience, this was the first time I was at work since Shawn had passed, it had only been a week but it seemed forever since we walked this together. I knew I would have to brave the locker-room, but I just didn't want to just yet. "Daddy? Can I go find Josh?"

"Sure, baby, if you cant find him I'll be in Vince's office, okay?"

"Okay daddy." I let go of her hand and watched as she ran down the hall and around the corner. She knew this area like the back of her hand, so I wasn't worried about her. I walked the familiar path to my boss's office door.

Two knocks and a gruff "Come in" later, I was sitting on the opposite side of his transportable desk. "Hunter, I'm glad you came to see me. Unfortunately, we have some decisions that have to be made." I just nod my head. "You know, despite all the trouble Shawn and I had, I still cared about him, and I consider him one of the best."

"Thank you, Shawn felt that same way about you. I once asked him if he could ever work someplace else, and he said no. his reason was something along the lines of 'Vince is a crazy psycho, but he keeps you on your toes and on top of your game.' He thought very highly of you."

"Ha, I have to say crazy psycho has to be one of the nicest things he has ever called me." We both shared a chuckle before the conversation turned serious again. "So, as you know, tonight is his appreciation night, but I want to talk to you about putting him in the Hall of Fame, god knows he deserves it."

"He does, that was one of the things he was always looking forward too when he retired. Too bad he won't get to give his own speech. Bet if would be sappy and make all this fans cry."

"So, do you want to accept it on his behalf, or do you think someone else should."

"I would like to accept it on his behalf, but I would like to get all the guys from the Kliq and Marty Jannetty involved. Just the best of his career. It all has to be represented since he can't be here."

"I'm sure they would be honored to be a part of this. Another thing I want to ask you, Shawn was going to be our man for Mark at Mania, how would you like to do it?"

I just kind of looked at him. I already had my go at Mark's streak in 2001, when I was younger, less emotionally involved, and heather.

"You don't have to answer me now." Vince said, obviously sensing my hesitation. "I know there is a lot going on, but think about it, there is still plenty of time till March." March was when everything started building for Mania for the most part. I just nod my head again.

"On a personal note, Hunter, how are you doing?" I let out a sigh and give half a smile.

"I keep wondering when I'll wake up from this nightmare. This doesn't feel like reality, but yet, as each day passes, and each night I spend alone, the more real it all becomes. Hell, Piper is dealing with this better than I am."

"She's a kid; they are usually more resilient than they get credit for. Plus, she's been through this before."

"Which kills me. She's too young to have to go through all this. She's not supposed to be used to death. I'm in my forties and I feel like the world is spinning off its axis."

"There is nothing you can do about Piper's past, Hunter, no matter how much you wish and pray, you can't undo what has been done. As horrible as it all was, you wouldn't have her if it hadn't. A silver-lining in a dark place. As for you, you've lost someone very important to you; I would be upset with you if you just brushed it off and went along your merry way. Emotions are nothing to be ashamed of. The sooner you realize that, the better things will be." I suck in a breath and stand from the chair; I extend my hand to my boss.

"Thanks for the talk Vince, see ya later." He shakes my hand and I walk out the door.

John's PoV

Randy hasn't said a word to me since we got to the arena. He set his stuff down, grabbed Rey and Josh and ran out the door, I haven't seen him since. This rift we have been experiencing has gotten steadily worse as each day passes and its driving me crazy. When we first talked about starting a family, I didn't have near as much trouble then as I was having now. As a matter of fact, he was right on the ball. We had wanted a girl, but for some reason or another, there wasn't one, so we got Josh. I wouldn't trade my son for the world, but I still wanted the daughter I didn't have.

I sigh to myself as I pull on my shoes, I get to talk to the camera and somehow describe Shawn and how great he was. I hated doing that, I've had to do three since I've been with the company and it never gets any easier. I tie my last shoe and look up just when Piper walks through the locker-room door. I smile at her when she spots me, the room was fairly empty, most people either not here yet, filming their goodbyes, tracking down call sheets, or warming up. Piper walks over to me and I pull her up on my lap. "Hi, Uncle John, Where's Josh?"

"Josh is with his dad somewhere. How are you kiddo, where's your daddy?"

"I'm okay and daddy is with Mr. Vince. Why are you all dressed up so soon?"

"I gotta shoot something."

"Can you put my hair up? Daddy rushed us from home, and I didn't getta ask him to braid it."

"I sure can, do you have scrunches?" she pulls two pink ones from her pockets. I gently push her off my lap and I proceed to, sort of, braid her hair in pig-tails.

It was Shawn who taught me how to braid; I had never done it before, or had a reason too. I had no sisters, my hair was never long, I never had girlfriends ask me to do it, and Randy had short-to-no hair the whole time we've been together, or even friends. Needless to say, the first time I tried, Shawn almost wet himself he was laughing so hard at my failure. Then it became one of his favorite past times, cornering me and blackmailing me into braiding something, one April Fools Day he bought me a wig and a head mannequin. He gave it to me right before I went to the gorilla for a WrestleMania match. Maybe I would tell that story in my goodbye.

Hunter's PoV

I walked into catering and I was very happy when I spotted Mark sitting alone in a far off corner of catering, drinking a cup of coffee. I eventually made my way over to him after being stopped by several more people. I sat down across from him. "Hey Mark, you look exhausted."

"Well thank you, you look amazing yourself." He said with a bit of sarcasm, but a smile all the same. "You're here early Helmsley; I didn't think I'd see you till right before show-time."

"Yea, well…." And I trailed off.

"Yea well what? What's going on?"

"I have something I need to talk to you about. Now, I don't want you too feel obligated or forced or anything, but-I-I mean-, *sigh* I don't really know where to start this."

"The beginning is usually a good place. What do I not need to feel obligated about?"

"Would you be willing to let me temporarily sign custody of Piper to you?"

The silence that hung between us was almost suffocating. Mark just looked blank and my heart was beating unusually fast. I didn't know what I would do if he said no. he was the easiest person to give custody too, but I didn't even know if he would agree or not. "May I ask why you are asking me this?"

"I'm not fit- I mean, I'm having a really hard time dealing with things and I'm not who she needs to be around right now."

"Is this about Shawn?"

"Yea." I say as I drop my head and draw patterns with my finger on the scratchy table top. "I don't know, I just, I feel so lost and out of control. I have mood swings, and moments where it almost feels like I'm blacking out. I'll leave the house and then it's like I'm having an out-of-body-experience. I'll see myself do things, but I have no control. And it's gotten to the point where it's dangerous."

"How so?"

"I almost shot Piper-,"

"WHAT?!" he yelled and his eyes got big, he looked like he was about to kill me.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, not like that! Not like that. I threw all of Shawn's hunting guns into the back of a truck then tossed a tool box on top of them all, and one went off. The bullet went thought the all about two inches from her head. But I couldn't really control anything I was doing. I don't want to risk anything like that happing again. For her safety, please take her. Just till I get myself under control."

"I don't know Hunter. You're asking a lot from me."

"But, you're so good with her, and you watched her when Shawn left me last year, she loves you, and-,"

"I know all that, but I don't think I am the best for her right now. I have a life too Hunter. I don't mean to sound selfish, but, she's your child. I don't think I could handle being there for her. I'm good at babysitting, not parenting. I'm sorry Hunter." He stood and I felt shock and disappointment. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I still love her, but I'm not the answer this time." And off we went. Leaving me open mouthed and nervous as hell.

Randy's PoV

I sent Josh off with Mr. West and Rey ditched me to go take a nap. So I walked back to the locker-room, hoping John wasn't still there. What I told Josh was true, I loved John and I always would, but his wanting of another child was shocking to me. We had Josh, why couldn't he be happy. We weren't getting any younger, and stating from scratched seemed to daunting of a task. Maybe, over time, this latest round of child wanting would pass just like the rest of the times had. This being about the sixth time since Josh turned seven that having more kids had come up.

I take a deep breath and push open the locker-room door. It's still fairly empty, but more lockers and taken than when I had first arrived here. I look towards where my stuff was and my gaze is locked on what was probably the cutest sight in the world. John had poor Piper's hair in a tangled mess and had a look of nervousness plastered on his face as he tried to make something decent out of a disaster. I chuckled and walked over to him. Braiding had never been his strong point, neither had any type of hair care, which was why he always had short hair.

"Need some help there, Johnny." I say as I sit down beside him, gently take the massive tangle from his gorilla hands, and slowly work out the knots and tangles. "Her head is not as fragile as you think, loose braids fall out and tangle. Pull them tight, I promise she wont mind." Piper let out a small giggle as I gently tug her braid tight. I had the braid off to John and let him tie in the scrunche as I braid the other half. Soon enough, Piper's hair is braided and John feels very accomplished. Piper turns around and hugs us both before asking where Josh was. "He's in class right now, but it's only for an hour." I explain as I see her face fall, and I look up as the door opens, only to reveal a very tall man with long brown hair, Piper see's him and bounds across the floor. "Uncle Kevin!" the afore mentioned tall man grabs and tosses the tiny seven year old in the air and then squeezes her in his arms.

"Hey munchkin." He says as she wraps her arms around him.

"I haven't seen you in forever!"

"I know, I know, where's your dad?"

"I don't know, he was talking to Mr. Vince, but that was a long time ago."

"Okay, well, since he is nowhere to be seen, how about we go get some ice cream?" I chuckle as she nods her head very fast, and Kevin carries her out of the room, leaving John and me alone in a heavy silence.


	26. Twenty-Five: Anticipation

Chapter Twenty-Five: Anticipation

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway. Any factual information I give is from and random Google searches.

Okay**, First**, I am very sorry for the delay, it was longer than I was expecting, so I spilt it up, the next chapter will be up either tonight or tomorrow. I really wanted this to be perfect, which it's not, but I'm still very proud of this.

**Second**, like always, this turned out different than how I had planned. In writing this, I decided to go back and watch a few tribute shows, mainly Eddie Guerrero's. And as I sat and watched the episode I haven't seen in seven years, I found myself crying as much as I did the night the episode aired. I also watched the shorter tributes to Umaga and the wrestlers from before my time who have passed away. So I decided to make this a small tribute to all the wrestlers who have died. While I cannot name them all, as a life-long fan, I thank them all for their contributions to the WWE. Without them, the WWE would not be what it is today.

**Third**, the video I describe is almost identical to Shawn Michaels' Hall of Fame video, with a few changes so it would fit the story. However, the actual video is property of the WWE and I simply watch it on YouTube when I have Shawn withdrawals. I made the dumb mistake of watching it while writing this, and I teared up, ha-ha.

**Fourth, Random Info for the chapter: **Shawn Michaels was one of the many who helped train Daniel Bryon. Triple H was trained by Władek (later Walter) "Killer" Kowalski. The Joan mentioned is Joan Marie Laurer, or Chyna.

**To The Always Amazing:** TheVampireLucinda, Sonib89, and KaiEstevez, Thank you all for the amazing, wonderful, highly anticipated motivational reviews!

**Special thanks to**: All of my readers and subscribers and the favorites! Without all of you, I wouldn't keep doing this!

**Warnings:** Notta!

* * *

Hunter's PoV

The TV Piper and I were looking at was one that was usually set up for GM promos, but now it was so Piper and I could watch the show in the best quality sort of being in the audience. The black leather couch was soft and Piper's hair was tickling my arm as she squirmed around trying to get comfortable beside me. We in a tiny room back stage and we were watching the announcers walk to their table and then Vince followed them down to the ring, followed by most of the superstars from both brands. Vince passed through the ropes and held a mic to his mouth, then dropped it again as the crown began to chant. "Thank You Shawn!" over and over. I had heard this from them before, but never for this reason. The sound rang to familiar in my ears as memories of tribute shows passed through my mind. How many of these tribute shows had I been through? Several, but I was never on this side. I was always the friend who had to try and share my feelings to the world, a very difficult and unpleasant task. Now I was the family waiting in the wings. I didn't know which was worse.

I was told I would be given a chance to speak if I chose to, I hadn't decided if I should or not. But I had asked Vince to do something for me concerning tonight, and it was a favor I feel he will be more than happy to do for me. He raised the mic once more and his voice sounded over the speakers and I had to smile a little when I thought back to the time Shawn and I had messed with his mic frequency, making him sound like a chipmunk then a stoner.

"One week ago, I received a phone call from a police officer telling me one of my wrestlers had been involved in an accident. Less than 48 hours after that, I was given heartbreaking news that Shawn Michaels had passed away." Piper leaned closer to me and I wrapped an arm around her as Vince continued.

"Now here we are. Alive, in a world without Shawn. In a world without one of the best performers I have ever seen. But Shawn was more than that, as most of you, if not all, know Shawn was a father. His daughter is one of the brightest kids I have seen, and Shawn was one of the best father's I have ever seen. He put his own career on hold for her when she got sick a few years back. Shawn was also a husband, and Shawn's husband came to me today and asked me to do something a little different tonight. Normally, when something as this happens, we honor that person and their accomplishments, but I was asked to not only dedicate this show to Shawn Michaels, but to all superstars and divas who have left this life."

The reaction from the crowd was immediate, cheers and chants rang through the air as the camera panned across the crowd, showing people crying and R.I.P. Shawn signs. I was glad Vince agreed to my idea, I wanted this night to be about more than just Shawn. We all gave our lives to this, and all who had passed deserved to be praised just a little more. I gave Piper another small squeeze as Vince continued. "Now, since the WWE has been around a long time, that list is unfortunately long, generations that watch now will not know wrestlers from the past, but we can still honor them. I now ask that you stand as the bell tolls ten times for Shawn Michaels and all who have been a part of this business." I couldn't stand. My legs felt too heavy, but as the first chime sounded and Piper jumped in my arms and pulled her closer.

Two chimes later I looked down at Piper who had tears running down her face. I pulled her onto my lap and held her as the bell continued and so did her tears. But I just stared at the screen, the faces of my co-workers and best friends passed in front of my eyes. John and Randy were side by side, I could see them trying not to cry as another chime rang through the air. Rey wasn't trying to hide his tears, neither was Adam or Christian.

Another chime, a see Kelly wrap her arms tighter around herself as she jumps slightly at the sound, her and Shawn always got along, he and I often asked her for advise when it came to raising Piper as a girl deserved to be raised. Another chime and a new face, Jeff Hardy's face. His face was lowered, but the tears were stark against his face. His hair was a dark red at the moment, he hadn't been close to us until Piper came into our lives, then he was like a magnet to her, so he always with us too. Shawn had been helping with his substance abuse problems for about a year. I hadn't spoken to him since the hospital. The camera view became wider, showing Matt, an arm wrapped around his younger brother's shoulders as he fought to not show his emotions.

Another chime and another camera shot, the announce table. Michael Cole and Jerry were standing tall, hands clasped behind their backs. Jerry's face was blank, but his eyes told another story, Michael Cole blinked and fought a jump as another chime rang through the 8air. The camera went back to the main group and focused on Daniel Bryan, an up-and-coming superstar that Shawn had been helping train for a few years. He looked lost, but I could understand it, if I had lost Walter when I was first starting out here.

Another chime and the camera panned to Glenn and I felt a momentary knot in my belly. He was one of the four I had been unfaithful to Shawn with, but the knot quickly disappeared. Shawn had simply walked up to Glenn on day after we got back together and punched him right in the face, braking Glenn's nose, but everything between us from then on was back to normal, like the infidelity was nonexistent. As the last chime cut through the air, the camera focused on Mark as he walked from the back to stand next to John and Randy. His face calm, but the redness of his eyes gave him away. The screen faded to black as Marked let a tear roll down his cheek.

"Making his way to the ring from San Antonio, Texas." The image of one of the many arenas we had been too lit up the once dark screen. Piper lifted her head from my chest and watched. "He is the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels!" Then it flashed to inside the gorilla, just as Shawn, with short hair and his bedazzled red ring attire jumped out from behind it just as "Chances" by Five for Fighting filled the air. Flashes of cheering fans and images of him making his entrance to the ring. His dancing and bouncing around were cut with pictures from his early wrestling days and videos from as far back as when he was one half of The Rockers. More clips of fans, signs that read "HBK The Icon" or "HBK I Love You".

Flashes of his whole career, starting with him splitting from Marty, to walking with the mirror behind him with Sherri, clips of him with that stupid mullet, even though I considered it the best mullet of all time. Then came the DX clips. I was torn between covering Piper's eyes and just letting her see it. I ended up just letting her see it, she would anyways. I felt myself holding back a chuckle as the first clip was me holding an "X" sign over Shawn's butt as Joan looked blank at it all. Then the clips that followed made so many memories flash past my brain. All the stuff we did when we were DX, the BBQ outside one fourth of July, dressing up as Shane and Vince, the reaction of the fans.

Then they showed the clip of him going to the ring on the harness and grapple line during WrestleMania 12. I remember being a nervous wreck as he went down the line. Still reeling from my loss, but hoping he would win. That was one of he best matches. A few more images of him flashed by and I felt my heart stop when his voice came from the speakers, "I will give you a show like you have never, ever, seen before. Why? Because I can." More images and clips of him past by as my heart resumed it normal rhythm. That was the first time I had heard his voice since he died. He was jumping off ladders, doing back flips off the ropes; the images were cut with commentary by J.R., Jerry, Vince, Michael, and Matt. All singing his praised, "The greatest in ring performer."

Then, as the song said, "chances lost" the clip of Mark tombstoning him was on screen, as was the image of him sitting defeated in the ring, the sadness and anger clear on his face. I hated what that match did to him, but it was another of his best ones. Then the song picked back up and more images of him flashed by. Super-kicking Bret, winning the belt, standing on the top rope before a match trashed his hair, more cheering fans, the old barrier wall collapsing under the weight of the people trying to get to Shawn, a clip of him kissing Piper backstage after winning a match made Piper giggle, made my heart hurt. Shawn dancing as confetti fell from the sky, images of he and I soon followed that. Us walking around backstage intercut with clips of us and Piper, I had no idea that any of these clips existed, but then, Jeff always was stealing the cameras and running around backstage with them. As the song came to an end and "The boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels." Filled the air, the last images were on him kneeling at the ramp in his white WrestleMania gear, and a sign that said "HBK Will Live Forever." Then the screen faded back to black.

The screen stayed at black, meaning it was on commercial. I looked down at my daughter who had a small smile on her face; I wiped away the last traces of her tears. "Did you and daddy really get naked on TV?" I felt a real laugh pass my lips as I pulled her into a hug.

"Yea, we did a few times. But that was a very long time ago. Daddy and I were only friends then."

"You looked really happy, but you had weird hair."

"Daddy had a mullet. Are you going to insult that?"

"No, Daddy's hair got picked on a lot, I'm not gonna." This was the happiest I had seen her. Maybe getting rid of all things "Shawn" in the house wasn't the right way to deal with this. "Are you going to go talk like Mr. Vince asked you too?"

"I don't know baby."

"I think you should. Daddy loved this. I think he would want you too."

"I'll think about it." She gave me another smile and cuddle back against me as the screen flared to life again.

The rest of the night passed as I thought it would. Matches were held between Shawn's old feuds or allies, superstars spoke about Shawn and told a few stories on him. I loved the interviews, and they made me tear up on more than one occasion. I knew these people loved Shawn, but seeing and hearing them all was very humbling. I didn't know how I would repay these amazing people for all they said and all they have done for me since Shawn passed. I knew there was no way I would be able to, but I would let them know how much they all mean to me, and how much they all meant to Shawn.

The screen had just faded from Rey's interview about Shawn, and the familiar thrill shot through the crowd on the screen as the all too familiar bell tolled and all the lights in the arena went out. Mark was making an appearance. Which was very odd, considering he hardly broke character. Another toll and his music hit, the fog rolled as he walked out, dressed in his usual black trench coat, but he wasn't in his usual ring attire. He was in jeans, and his hair wasn't wet, nor did he have on his dark eye-liner. This wasn't The Undertaker, this was Mark.

He walked fairly quickly to the ring and slide between the ropes as he always did, walking calmly over and grabbed the offered mic. "I know I don't look like I normally do when I come out, but this is not a normal night. I'm not here as The Undertaker, but as a friend. And that's just what I was to Shawn, a friend. A very good friend. And tonight I wanted to come out and do something special for Shawn, and for his family." He made quick laps as he spoke, almost as if he was nervous about something.

"As Vince said earlier tonight at the top of the show, Shawn was a family man. He was an amazing father to an amazing little girl. Her name is Piper and she turned eight about a month ago. She was Shawn's world. He gave up so much of his time for her, and he loved her. You all didn't see much of Shawn's personal life, but I feel that in order to honor Shawn, we have to include that part of his life. Because it was just as important, if not more so, than his life between these ropes." Mark stops his circles about the time I'm fighting the desire to go hit him, what was he up too?

"Hunter, I know you're back there, and I, as well as these people, would love for you and your little girl to come to this ring." I felt my blood freeze as he made his offer. I simply didn't move. I was not going out there, and I sure as hell was not taking my daughter out there.

Randy's PoV

I walked somberly out of the camera room. My personal message about Shawn was about as upsetting as the funeral was. This, for some reason, really drove home that he was gone. I hadn't seen Hunter since before the show started. Kevin had dropped Piper off with him somewhere, and Kevin was behind Rey in line for the camera. I gave him a small smile and rotated my shoulders as I headed back to the locker room, again hoping John wouldn't be there. I was having a match tonight against Cody, a shout out to when DX feuded with Legacy. Ted, Cody, and I basically stopped talking once Legacy broke, and I was fine with that. Cody was whiny and Ted was a wimp.

Pushing open the locker room door I saw John pulling on his shoes, he had a match too; I just wasn't sure who it was against. He looked up when the door opened, but dropped his gaze when he saw it was me. I let out a sigh and walk over to him and sit down. "Who you facing?" he just shrugged and straightened up and pulled on his wrist bands before walking out the door. I roll my eyes and kick his bag away from me.

"Trouble in Cenaville?" I turn and see Mark sitting on the bench with a tiny mirror pressed to his nose, black eyeliner in his hand.

"Ya know Mark, after all this time; I'd figure you could put that on with your eyes closed."

"You wanna try it sometime? It's a bitch is what it is. What's up with you too anyways? I've been sensing a chill between you two for a few weeks."

"He wants another kid, I don't." no reason to beat around the bush Mark, he would figure it out if I wanted him too or not.

"Care to say why?" he says as he draws on his cheek again, cursing under his breath as he wipes it away.

"We have Josh, we don't need another kid." I reach down and pull my bag from the ground and unzip the big pocket.

"Hunter asked me to have temporary custody of Piper." I drop the oil I just picked up.

"What?"

"I think he's going off the deep end, dealing with loosing Shawn and the lawsuit-,"

"What lawsuit?"

"He didn't tell you?" I shake my head. "Vince's brat filed a custody suit for Piper's welfare. He goes to court Friday I think."

"Can she even do that? She's not involved in anything concerning Piper."

"I don't know the law, but since there is a case, I guess she can."

"Why does he want you to take her?"

"The suit was filed twice, once against Shawn, the other against Hunter. So, Shawn is gone, and if I get custody of Piper, the suit against Hunter goes bye-bye. Plus, as I said, he's having a very hard time dealing with Shawn being gone."

"Are you going to take her?"

"No, I'm not." To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

"Why not, you're so good with her. She loves you."

"I'm not father material. Hell, I hardly saw my own kids; I don't even know my youngest birthday. Plus, I've heard Vince is thinking about not allowing families to tag along, so what would I do with her then? I'm not the answer this time. Plus, I'm not who she needs. She needs stability and structure; I'm not good at either on of those things."

I just nod and pick my oil back up, I thought about putting on more than normal to piss Cody off when he couldn't keep a grip on me, but if his hands kept sliding off, it would be obvious why and I would loose. I hated loosing. I heard Mark cuss a few more times before the black eyeliner went flying across the room and he stormed out, he was off to the make-up people. I grabbed my ring trunks and quickly changed into them and my thoughts swam as I pulled on my knee braces. Did Hunter even have a prayer to keep Piper? I knew the McMahon lawyers were bad-asses, they had to be for what they probably got paid, and all the suits they had won.

There was a lot they could use against him. Shawn's drinking being one of them. While Hunter was not at fault, Piper was still around that, and Hunter's numerous affairs could be seen as damaging to a child as well. In the past week I saw a shift in him. He was so withdrawn it killed me. Not really speaking, not that I had seen him enough to get a conversation out of him. There had to be a way of helping him out.


	27. Twenty-Six: Options

Chapter Twenty-Six: Options

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway. Any factual information I give is from WWE . com and random Google searches.

Gah! I know I promised this days ago, but life has been crazy-nuts around my neck of the woods. I became a new Auntie!, I've been packing to go back to school, and I caught a icky flu bug. But here it is!

**To The Always Amazing, Wonderful, Awesome Reviewers:** TheVampireLucinda and Sonib89, Thank-You, Thank-you, Thank-you! for the reviews. I cannot say it enough! I love getting them and I love reading them!

**Special thanks to**: All of my readers and subscribers and the favorites! Without all of you, I wouldn't keep doing this!

**Warnings:** Language, Language, and some lovely Stephanie Time! Thought she was gone didn't ya?

* * *

Stephanie's PoV

I rolled my eyes for the hundredth time tonight as I pulled into the parking lot of the arena. I had no desire to be here, but it was part of my job. I grab my bag and slam my door shut as I walk through the back doors to my office. I pass a lot of people on my way, nobody says a word as I stalk past them, I pass my father's office about the same time Hunter walks out of them. I feel my heart speed up, his head is down, he doesn't see me, so I purposely put myself in front of him, it's only a few seconds until he bumps into me, his huge arm almost toppling me to the floor. "Sorry, I didn't-," his words stop shirt as they see me. I feel a smile spread across my face.

"Better watch your step Hunter, wouldn't want to make Friday any easier for me." He doesn't say a word as he continues on his way. Another roll of my eyes and I'm in my office.

The night passes fairly quickly, and I get thirsty, so I head to catering. The water, for some stupid reason or another, is on the other side of the room. I sigh and head over there, a tiny, high pitched giggle hits my ears and I turn to see the huge oaf, Kevin Nash, doing something with the stupid brat that was my key back into Hunter's life. I walk around the table holding the water and I gaze at the annoying sight across the way. Nash is in jeans and a button down, typical of his kind, and the brat is in jeans and an old, couple sizes too big HBK shirt. Hunter had no idea how to even dress the kid, let alone take care of it on his own. Hell, even if it wasn't my intention, I would be doing her a favor. She would get nowhere in life if she looked like a man.

I roll my eyes yet again and grab a few bottle of water before turning back to the door, but I turn as Hunter, yet again, appear in my way. He is on the other side of the room, but this is twice in one night. Coincidence? No way. I watch as he walks over to the brat and the oaf. They exchange a few words, but I focus more on Hunter. He looks so tired. His eyes heavy and his hair looks horrendous. He was really letting himself go. Not something he wanted to do if he wanted his kid. A smirk crossed my lips, all his problems would go away if would come back to me. I loved him, and I would tolerate his kid if he were mine. He would have it all. A big house, money, a very beautiful trophy wife, an empire! He would have it all now if that bastard hadn't crawled out of rehab.

But crawled out he did, not that it mattered, he was in the ground in less than six months. Shawn had left Hunter emotionally devastated, giving me an even bigger opportunity to snatch him up. My eyes followed Hunter's movements as he led the brat out of catering to their private room backstage to watch the show. He would be mine again. And this time, he wouldn't be leaving me for some washed-up, old, cripple with bad hair. No, he would be mine till the day he died.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

Mark paced around, waiting for me to show up, I wasn't going to. "John, Randy, somebody back their, get his ass out here." Mark's voice reverberated from the speakers, and in less than a minute, Kevin, John, and Randy were barging through the door.

"Come on Hunter." Kevin said as he positioned his massive frame in my line of sight.

"I'm not going out there."

"Yes you are."

"Not happening." He crouched down in front of me.

"You have two options. Either you go out there on your own like a big boy, or I carry you out there like the kid you're acting like." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

Now, it has been a long time since I've been in the ring with Kevin, and I forgot how quick the ape-man can move. He snatched me up faster than I could do anything about it. Randy had Piper's hand as Kevin tossed me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I struggle, trying to get free, but even years after he left the ring, he was still strong and I knew I wasn't getting loose unless he let me go.

He carried me to the curtain then dropped me to my feet, but he kept a hold of my shoulder. "Do you want to walk out there or do I have to carry you again?" I simply shake his hand off my shoulder before punching him in the face. I smiled as he stumbled back from me.

"Don't ever carry me around like that or you'll be getting more than that." It felt pretty good to hit something. I let out a breath and looked down at my daughter; she looked a little confused and was still holding Randy's hand. I gently pull her over to me and drop down to my knees so I can look her eye-to-eye. "Do you want to g out there with me?" she didn't say anything, just shrugged her shoulders. "You don't have to, baby. You can stay back here with John and Randy."

"Are you gonna talk about dada?" she asked, her voice small, and hard to hear over the crowd that sat beyond a simple curtain.

"Most likely. This is something Uncle Mark put together. Daddy doesn't actually know what's going to happen."

"Can I hold your hand out there?" I smiled and gave her a tiny hug.

"The whole time, baby, you don't ever have to let go." She gave me a tiny smile then nodded her head.

Taking yet another deep breath, I gently, but firmly take Piper's hand in mine; I give the sound guy a look. He pressed a few buttons and I took a deep breath as the first heavy beats of my entrance music hit, "It's time to play the game" echoing through the ring area as I give Piper another assuring smile before I lead her through the thick, black curtain, towards a huge crowd of people cheering and chanting my name.

* * *

Stephanie's PoV

I tossed my pen on to the desk as I signed my obnoxiously long name to another bit of paperwork. I had muted the TV a long time ago. I was usually a part of these episodes, but I had no desire to say anything good about Shawn Michaels. Even though he was one of the best performers the company had ever had, he was the reason I wasn't happy, so he didn't deserve my praise. Besides, there were several people perfectly happy to step up and sing praises to the drunk.

I sighed and leaned back against my chair. I had a mild headache and I wanted it to go away. I kicked off my heels and closed my eyes.

My moment of quiet didn't last long as a shrill ring filled the air as my phone screeched from my purse under my desk. I groaned as I blindly reached down and fumbled the thing from its side pocket. A quick glance at the caller ID and I was on the phone with one of the best lawyers in the world. "Mr. Arson, what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked as I leaned back against the chair.

"I'm afraid myself and the Hartley and Benson firm will no long be able to assist you in your standing lawsuit against Mr. Helmsley for the custody of the minor child."

I sat up so fast the world went fuzzy for a few seconds. "Excuse me? You can no longer what?"

"Myself and the firm are no longer a part of your current-,"

"I heard that you jackass! Tell me why?"

"New evidence has been brought to light concerning the case, and it is no longer in this firm's best interests to continue supporting you in your crusade against Mr. Helmsley and his child."

"What new evidence? You cant just quite!"

"I assure you I can. I am withdrawing myself from your employment. You have until Friday to find new counsel."

"Listen buster, do you know who I am? I can have your job!"

"I do not think you should continue making idle threats Ms. McMahon. You do not have the power, or sway that you think you hold. Have a good evening," and with that, the connection was gone.

I just sat in my chair, stunned at the turn of events. Then an uncontrollable rage seemed to fill me from head to toe as I let out a scream of furry as my phone sailed out of my hand into the door. It hit and shattered against the metal door, falling in several pieces to the floor. I was breathing heavily as I tried to figure out what the hell had happened to ruin my plan. How would I get Hunter now? What possible chance did I have without dangling his stupid bitch of his head? I let out another scream and knocked all the papers off my desk before I turn and flip my chair over.

As the black, leather chair toppled to the floor I was calmed down enough to realize who that bastard had been referring to at the end of the conversation. _"You do not have the power, or sway_" my father's name was written all over this. Giving another shard kick to the fallen desk chair I stormed my way out of my office and right into my father's.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I say as I push the door open, I step in as I bounces off the wall and slams shut behind me. He glances up at me before going back to the stack of papers on his desk.

"Hello, Steph, please come right in." I stomp to his desk.

"Cut the crap old man, you called Arson and had them back out. Care to explain that shit to me?" he calmly let out a breath and looked up at me.

"First of all, I am your father, as well as your employer. You do not come barging into my office and demand answers that you have not earned. Now, if you want to discuss this, I strongly suggest you sit your little butt down." Still seething, I took a deep breath and sat down in a chair.

"Why did you do it dad?"

"I wasn't going to let you ruin that man's life more than it already is."

"It wasn't going to ruin it, I was helping him. He just doesn't get that yet. I can give him everything. Him and that brat of his-,"

"Stop right there young lady. I know you do not like kids, but Piper is one of the kindest, sweetest, best behaved kids in the world, and you will not talk about her in such a manner. The next thing is, you are not doing this for Hunter's well being. You're doing this for your own selfish reasons. I will not allow you to drag his good name through the mud, I will not allow you to take a helpless kid away from a loving father, and I will not let you drag him deeper into the depression that is already killing him."

"Stop exaggerating. He's fine."

"Look, I am not going to sit hear and figure out what is going on in your twisted brain, but you have two options here. Drop the case, or get a new lawyer, with your own money, and who is outside my sphere of influence."

* * *

Note: This is almost over, I think we have about two chapters left, and I haven't decided if I want an epilogue or not. I have about three half written, so it is a possibility.

I do plan on writing more, and I'm thinking about doing a story about John and Randy. But I haven't decided yet. Let me know what you think. I don't want to write something no one will like. I love your opinions and feedback!


	28. 27: Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Everything's Gonna Be Alright

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

**To The Always Amazing, Wonderful, Awesome Reviewers:** Paula may Busby, TheVampireLucinda, and Sonib89, Thank-You for the reviews. I love getting them and I anxiously wait to get more!

**Special thanks to**: All of my readers and subscribers and the favorites! Without all of you, I wouldn't keep doing this!

**Warnings:** Short with extra cheese.

**Okay…**Very sorry for the massive wait, but I started school again and my professors decided that I looked bored and all of them keep kicking homework on my already twitching student body.

Also, I had a hard time writing this, my brain kept going blank and this was just rough to get through. So I hope it's not too bad and nobody is allergic to cheese, cause that's all this is, cheesy lame-ness,

* * *

Hunter's PoV

The sound of the crowd was deafening as always, but there was a different feel in the air. Normally, the atmosphere was electric and exciting, while there was still electricity in the air, it was of a completely different feel, one that's very hard to put into words. Just my entrance alone made this hard to do. The feel of Piper's tiny hand tightly griping my own as I lead her towards the place where Shawn had thrived, where Shawn had come alive, and where he would forever linger.

Seeing Mark standing there in street clothes also gave this an eerie feeling. He was normally head-to-toe black with eyeliner and gloves on his hand. But this wasn't The Undertaker, one of the most respected and talented men in the business. This was Mark, the man who had lost a friend, and one of his best competitors. Shawn and Mark had always had a very odd relationship, and with everything they both put it through, it was a very good sign of this man's character and love for his friend.

The closer to the ring we got, the tighter Piper held onto my hand. She was nervous, and probably very intimidated. I don't blame her; the situation regarding this was far outside her comfort zone. Yes, she had been in the crowd numerous times, and then one night when Shawn and I were divorcing she even got to sit at the announce table, Mark's way of keeping her away from us so she wouldn't get caught in the cross fire of Shawn and I's harsh words.

But things were different now; Shawn and I weren't together because we were fighting, but because he was gone. Mark wasn't standing there to be intimidating or to battle it out, but because he had lost a friend. This was going to be one of the hardest times I would ever have in this ring.

I got to the ring and gently tugged Piper in front of me, and led her up the steps, Mark had stepped on the bottom rope and helped her pass under them as I smoothly side between the top and bottom rope. The cheers of the fans only registered in my mind when I was standing there between the three ropes that had played such a role in my life. The chants where similar to what were heard whenever a superstar passed, but those chants were mixed with chants of my name, I even heard a few that said Piper was cute, which made me smile a bit. I glanced down at my daughter who was trying her hardest not to look around like a deer in headlights, and Mark had a small smile as he watched her.

Mark waited for the crowd to die down before he brought the microphone to his face. I walked over to stand by Piper, one quick glance at the screen showed how tiny she was, one angle of the camera made the middle rope block her face. She really was a cutie. "Okay," Marks voice boomed over the speakers that hung all around the arena. "Now that Hunter has made his way out here, a small introduction needs to be made. He placed his massive arm around Piper's shoulders and gently pulled her to his side. "This was one of the most important things in Shawn's life, his little girl, Piper." The crowd gave off a cheer and Piper turned red and ducked her head a bit. Mark just beamed and gave her a tiny squeeze before he let her go.

"Now, as we all know, Shawn passed away a few days ago, and I didn't have a lot of time to put this together for you, but this is something that myself, the guys in the truck outside, and everyone in the back did for you. We all pillaged the photo albums our significant others put together for us, and we had thousands of video clips, mostly from Jeff, looked through and this is just something to let you guys know that even though Shawn is gone, we will never forget him, or his love for this business," Mark turned from us and made a sweeping motion towards the fans in the seats, "his love for all of you," more cheers pierced the air, then his gaze settled on Piper and I. "Or his love for the two most important people in his life."

The arena went dark as the tron came to life, some song I didn't know the name of fell softly from the speakers, but its low tone and soft vocals made its massage clear. Mark was right when he said these were pictures from the guys and not the WWE archives. The first picture that flashed by was a bit blurry and pixilated. Several of the ones that followed were taken at various restaurants, hotels, and planes. Pictures of Shawn sleeping with his hat pulled over his eyes in sweat pants, him shoving his suitcases into the over-head storage on a plane. Pictures of him and Piper, frozen in time, flashed by, them playing in various parks, Shawn tossing her in the air, them playing in pools, then I appeared in a few. Shawn and I doing various things, a few with Mark and others made their way in, then the pictures changed to video, the majority of them clearly came from Jeff.

It was backstage in some random arena, it was taken the year we adopted Piper, she was so small and clung to Shawn's leg as we walked. I couldn't really hear what we were saying, but the smile on my face meant Shawn had said something funny or dumb. Superstars passed us and most made faces at Jeff or bumped into him as they passed causing the camera to spaz to a random side. More videos. It was a flashing montage of Shawn's life with us. Each picture of video carried a memory that I would get swept up in, almost missing the following image. A movement out of the corner of my eye made me glace down, Mark had wrapped a big arm around Piper and was hugging her as more went by. My breath caught as footage of Shawn and I's wedding popped up.

Memories flashed through my head. I wasn't allowed to go to any of Shawn's fittings, just as he never went to any of mine. He said that we were going to keep some traditions with our wedding. So when he appeared at the door of the church in a white tux I almost died laughing. He was always swearing up and down he was the more masculine in our relationship, yet there he was in white. I almost asked Mark to cut it off when Shawn's voice sounded in the air. "I love you, manly pride be damned. It'll take a miracle to separate us. I promised to always be there for you, in this life or the next." I wiped my eyes before the screen went black and his voice sounded again, "I'll always love you." then the lights slowly came back on as well as a picture of Shawn, Piper, and I, I don't even remember when I was taken.

Mark cleared his throat as I blinked my eyes rapidly. "That was a bit emotional, but, all of us in the back included, thought that you could use a reminder. We all forget things when we loose loved ones. We all loved Shawn, and we all will miss him." then the Raw theme song came on and the locker room poured down the ramp, I spotted some cameramen, make-up artists, costume designers, referees, Mark slipped out of the ring and joined the crowd, my eyes landed on Vince as he walked out of the back and clapped him hands with the rest of the group. I felt more tears well up as well as a smile break my face as I pulled Piper next to me and I stared out into the sea of my co-workers and friends. I realized that I would get through this. No matter what happened I wouldn't be alone. I may not have Shawn, but I wasn't alone. Piper wouldn't be alone. Everything was going to be alright.


	29. Twenty-Eight: Someday and Epilogue

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Someday and Epilogue

I can't believe this is done. This has been an amazing adventure. I was so scared about putting _Piper_ up, and now I'm putting up that end of a third story. I want to thank all of my readers for encouraging me to keep doing this. Thank you for putting up with my grammar mistakes and bad story ideas. Thank you for sticking with me even after I killed Shawn. Thank you Thank you Thank you!

**Disclaimer: **I have no connection with the WWE or its employees in anyway.

To my amazing reviewers, Paula may, TheVampireLucinda, and Sonib89, Thank-You for the reviews. They really kept me going. They gave me the confidence to keep writing! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

Walking back down the ramp was easier than walking down. Piper had actually ran ahead of me and was over by Kevin. I needed to let her see him more. As I walked by I kept getting caught up in hugs and back slaps, the clapping still very loud and messing with my ears. I nodded at Kevin when he took Piper in his arms; I knew he would watch out for her. I finally got back behind the curtain when I was stopped by a very surprising sight. Bret Heart.

"Bret?" I asked, walking over to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Shawn might have been a pain in the ass, but he was a fine man. He changed a lot since I last saw him. I never thought I would outlive him. Yet here I am."

"Yea, here you are. But that still doesn't explain-,"

"I wanted to extend a hand of friendship with you. What happened…well….we all know what that was and why it was done." He let out a breath and pushed his hair back. "I was hoping I would be able to do this with Shawn, but we can always get what we want. So I have to do the next best thing." He said as he extended his hand towards me.

I grabbed it without hesitation. "Shawn wanted to do this for a long time too." We shared a smile then we released our grip, and I took a step back.

"That's a cute little girl you got there Hunter."

"Yea she is."

"Shawn was probably very proud of her."

"He was. Spoiled her rotten. He would have moved the world for her."

"You will too." He said with a smile, I just looked at him with a bit of doubt.

"I'm not doing too hot so far." Bret let out a chuckle.

"No one is too old to learn anything, and you were married to Shawn for years. You saw him with your daughter. Take a lesson son. You can do this. I know you can." He walked forward and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Make Shawn proud kid." Then he walked away.

I stood there for a few seconds then I went back to the room Kevin had dragged me out of. I shut the door and collapsed on the bed. The sound of the crowd seeped through the walls. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I was very tired. Kevin and the rest of the guys would be busy doing what they always did. I maybe could get a few minutes of sleep. Power naps really were a beautiful thing. I stretched out on my side and closed my eyes. I seemed to sink into the couch as I drifted further and further from reality.

The room I was in was very familiar. The white walls and grey carpet looked like they had when I first saw them. Shawn and I's first apartment. The first thing we had ever done together after he had proposed to me. It was a tiny thing. We could have afforded a bigger and better apartment, but we were never home so we never saw the need to do so.

"Looks like it used too huh?" I spun around and felt my heart speed up when I locked my gaze on Shawn.

He was smiling, leaning against the door frame that led to the bedroom. He was in jeans and one of my old HHH t-shirts, his jeans tucked into his brown, scuffed cowboy boots.

"What are you-I don't-Shawn?" his smile grew as he walked closer to me and wrapped his hand around mine. I felt it. I felt him! His hand was warm; I could feel the calluses and the roughness that came from our job. He smiled even more as my breath caught in my throat. "What is this?" I asked my voice rough from emotion.

"A last gift. Apparently karma does exist and you are my last stop."

"Your last-who else have you seen?" I asked, feeling a bit betrayed that he hadn't seen me until now.

"Just Piper and Mark." I opened my mouth but he cut me off. "I knew it would be bad for me to see you before you had accepted my fate." He pulled away from me and sat down on the couch we had brought up from his parents' basement, the couch that now sat in our garage. I followed him and sat beside him.

I haven't been blind to what has been going on, Hunter. I know how hard of a time you were having with everything." He grabbed my hands again, holding both of them tight in his. "I'm sorry Hunter. I'm so sorry I left you. It wasn't what I wanted."

"Why were you doing it Shawn, why didn't you tell me you were having problems?" he shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't. Even now that I'm gone I don't know why. No amount of wishing will change what is. All you can do is raise our baby Hunter. Raise Piper like we wanted. Let her see the good in life. You're a great father Hunter. I know you'll do great. She couldn't have a better father."

"She could have you." I say, my voice cracking, a tear sliding down my face. Shawn reached up and wiped it away, my face tingling where his warm hand had touched my skin.

"She can't have me. I wish that I could go back and change what I did, but I can't. I hate that I have to stay here and see you go through life without me. But I know you can. No matter what hardships come your way I know you'll face them head on and make me proud of you." he gave me another smile and he pulled me against him.

I greedily wrapped my arms around him and ran my hands up and down his back. Feeling his warmth all around me. I felt his hands on my back, his head on my shoulder. I squeezed him closer. "I don't want to let you go Shawn. I don't want to let you go." I sniffled and buried my head into his shoulder.

"I know, I don't either. But we have too. You have go get back to our daughter. She needs you."

"But I need you." he pulled back, but I refused to let go of him. I gripped his shoulders tight as I looked into his eyes.

"There is nothing I can say that will make this any easier. Just know that I love you, and I'll always be there for you. I see you. I'll always be with you." I nod and pull him tight again.

"I love you too Shawn." A few more tears fell from my eyes as I held him closer. I wanted this to last forever. But even as I hoped, I knew it couldn't be so. "How much longer do we have?" he pulled me closer.

"Not long."

"Will I see you again?"

"One day. I promise you." he pulled back again. He ran his hands through my hair and smiled at me.

"Don't let Piper forget me. Remind her everyday that I love her, that I'll always love her."

"She won't forget you. She could never forget you. You're her father Shawn." He nodded and I felt him shiver. I turned panicked eyes to his. He gave me a sad smile and nodded. I shook my head and pulled him back to me. "More time. Please more time!" I begged whoever was doing this. I felt him shiver again and he felt less warm. We pulled back and our lips met. I knew this would be the last time I could do this in such a long time. Surprisingly, when it ended I felt better. I held his hands tight in mine as I pressed my forehead against Shawn's. I stared into his eyes and I forced myself to memorized every line and crease around them, every speck that lay in his eyes, each eye lash. His body shuddered as he slowly slipped from my grip and he was gone. A whispered "I love you" seemed to hang in the air as I fell forward onto the couch and let the hot tears fall from my eyes.

* * *

Vince's PoV

I watched as Hunter walked up the ramp, his adorable little girl scampering away in front of him to Kevin Nash. I remember when my little girl was that tiny. I wish that was still the case. Linda and I should have done better with her. But you can't go back and change things. I watched Hunter take all hugs and back slaps, but he still managed to slip away. I turned and followed him out, pausing just by the curtain as he and Bret Heart shook hands. I watched him as he walked back to the room we had set up him and Piper to watch the show. I was going to follow him, but being the chairman, I got stopped by several people and phone calls. It was fifteen minutes before I could actually go talk to Hunter.

I walked over to the door and knocked. No response, so I knocked again. Still no response, so I pushed the door open and saw Hunter sprawled out on the couch, sound asleep. I knew he looked tired, I just didn't think he was this tired. I flipped off the light, closed the door, and took off in search of Kevin. Hunter needed to get some more sleep. I walked towards the main entrance of the arena. That's where some of the wrestlers went after the show to sign autographs and see some fans. I spotted Kevin, but I didn't see Piper. I walked over to him. "Hey Vince, long time no see." He said as he saw me approach.

"Kevin. Where's Piper?"

"I left her with Randy, why?"

"Hunter's passed out on the couch and I just wanted him to get some more sleep. He's looked pretty wiped all day."

"Good idea, yea, I left her with Randy because I wanted to relive this circus. I think he and John were heading to catering with their kid." I nodded, knowing John, it was very possible.

* * *

Randy's PoV

"Uncle Randy, does Uncle John always do this?" I looked at what Piper was pointing at, I had to shake my head as I saw John, once again, pick over the remains of the catering tables.

"I'm afraid so, squirt. Uncle John seems to think that nothing should be wasted, even the food that wasn't consumed by over fifty people."

"Maybe he needs help?" I chuckled and pulled her onto my shoulders as I walked from the doorway to one of the few tables that were still sat up. I sat down and let her slide off my back.

"You're getting big. I'm not gonna be able to do that much longer."

"Where's Josh?"

"Josh is with the take down crew, he likes to help with the chairs."

"I hate doing the chairs; the mat is much more fun."

"I bet it is." I say as I wrap and arm around her and she snuggles against me.

I turn my gaze to John. He's still a bit sore at me. He sticks his tongue out at me when I snort at his face when he bit into a random cookie that had been left behind. "You know there is a reason this food doesn't get eaten right?"

"Shut up Randy, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Piper lets out a small yawn and tucks her feet to her chest and closes her eyes. I smile down at her and stroke her hair. The pretty red was smooth and curly, back down to her shoulders. Hunter would have a fun time with it. I remember him and Shawn complaining about it being long when Piper first came into their lives. John and I didn't have the problem, but taking Josh to get his hair cut when he was younger was always a tough thing. He threw legendary tantrums.

"You're good with her." I sighed as John sat next to me, handing me a doughnut hole from his plateful of food. I popped it in my mouth, cringing at the filling that filled my mouth.

"Yuck, I hate raspberry."

"I didn't know what was in it." He says as he tosses two in his mouth.

"You still mad at me?" I ask, looking at him.

"I wasn't mad at you-," I gave him a look. "Okay, maybe I was a little bit, but it wasn't the type of mad that would have your butt on the couch."

"My butt on the couch? You were the one that walked out."

"Yes, but you started it. Plus I'm faster; I'd beet you to the bed." He took a bit of a cookie, making another face and plopping it on his plate. "Why do raisins look like chocolate chips?"

"So they could see you make that face." he elbows me in the side, causing me to move and Piper to let out a tiny sound and snuggle down even more. "She looks like a tiny hedgehog."

"You are really good with her you know." John says, looking at me, his blue eyes serious and pleading. "I really wish you would consider us looking into adoption again Randy." I sigh and wrap my free arm around him.

"I'll think about it." I could feel the happiness flow off of him as he leaned against me and shoved a brownie in his mouth.

* * *

Vince's PoV

An hour later I walked back to the room I had left Hunter in. the light was back on, so I knocked again. "Come in." I pushed the door open and saw him lounging on the couch doing something with him phone. "Vince, what's up?"

"Just figured I would stop by and give you some good news." I say as I lean against the wall in front of Hunter.

"Good news? That would be something new for me."

"Your case with my child is canceled." I said with a smile. It grew when he looked at me in curiosity.

"How? You said-,"

"I can be persuasive. Especially when I threaten to take a billion dollar company out of their legal hands and into another firm. So, unless my daughter can find another lawyer that I can't get to, you never have to worry. And I assure you, she will not be able to fine one.

"Wow, I don't know what to say, Vince."

"Don't say anything. Just get better and get back in that ring. You're good for business, Hunter, and I need you in that ring." I say with a smile as I stand straight and walk out the door. As it closed I smiled as I thought about what I had just done for him and his little girl. I walked back to my office with a kick in my step.

* * *

Hunter's PoV

I walked back to my car with my sleeping daughter in my arms. It was past two in the morning. I had offered some of the guys a place to sleep, but they all declined. A part of me was relived. I wanted to be alone with my little girl. I laid her down in the backseat and I got in and drove home. The whole way there I thought about how much had changed since I arrived at the arena. I wasn't filled with dread. And I didn't feel alone.

I pulled into the driveway, then got out and carried Piper in the house. She had woken up and asked for a glass of water. I carried her into the kitchen and sat her on the counter as I got her a glass. I pulled her shoes off and tossed them by the door, my shoes following soon after that. As mine landed with a thump I smiled, Shawn hated it when I left my shoes by the door. I looked back at my daughter as she finished her drink. "You wanna sleep with daddy tonight?" she nodded her head and I sat her on the ground and told her to put her pajamas on.

When she disappeared up the steps I sighed and put her glass in the sink. I flipped off the kitchen light and walked to the steps, my feet tripping over something. I caught myself and looked down at the trash sack I had left. It was full of Shawn's clothes. I smiled and picked up the bag and carried it back upstairs and I put it in the closet. I closed the door when Piper came in the room. I smiled at her and motioned to the bed while I went and changed in the bathroom.

I came back, flipping on the hall light and leaving the door open a crack before I turned off the overhead light and got into bed myself. Piper curled next to me immediately and I wrapped my arm around her. It didn't take her long to drift back off the dream land. But I stayed awake. This past week had been a nightmare, but it was over now. I had my daughter; I had wonderful friends and family. But I also knew I still had Shawn. No matter where I was, he would always be there and he would always love me. With that thought in my head and a smile on my face I closed my eyes and followed my daughter into dreamland.

* * *

Epilogue

I walked through the halls of the hospital in search of room 1305. I had been on the road when I got the call and I had been fighting my way home ever since. It had been a long time since my heart had beat this fast. The numbers on the doors seemed to blur together, forcing me to blink my eyes several times to make out the numbers. But when the number I was looking for swam into my sight, I had to stop and take a deep breath. I didn't know if I was ready for this. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The walls were a horrid yellow color, but the sight of my daughter on the hospital bed pulled my gaze from the walls. I smiled and walked into the room. "Hi daddy, I'm so happy you made it." Piper says as she smiles and wraps her arms around me. Her hair is in a messy state, but I guess she was allowed to look messy right now.

"Hey, where is your other half?" I ask, sitting down on the chair next to the bed.

"I sent him to Taco Bell, I can't eat this food another day."

"I don't blame you, hospital food is not good."

"Let me call the nurse and you can see your grandson." She says as she presses the call button.

My grandson. I was a grandpa now. At the ripe age of 23 my daughter had married that brat of John and Randy's. When Piper was 16 I should have sent her to a nunnery. I thought her wedding day would make me feel old, but now she was 25 and had turned me into a grandfather. "Who's last name is he going to get? You have four to choose from?" I ask as she lays the phone down.

"We're gonna give him Randy's. Josh and I are going to change ours to a single name too. I told him we should have done it when we got married because I was not going around with four last names. But he had to be a pain." I was about to say something else when the door opened and a nurse in blue scrubs wheeled in a bassinet. I saw something wrapped in blue wiggle around. The nurse picked him up and handed the bundle to me. "Here's grandpa, little guy." The nurse said before she left the room.

I just stared at the tiny baby in my arms. He had blue eyes and was as bald as a cue ball. "He has no hair like Grandpa Shawn." I said, running a hand along his tiny face. Without looking up I asked, "What's his name?"

"Shawn. We named him Shawn Felix Helmsley Orton. Now he can carry a little piece of all of you with him."

"He's so beautiful baby." Little Shawn wiggled around, his mouth opening and closing as he yawned, little sounds ringing in my ears. "Hi, Shawn. I'm your grandpa. Yes I am. I'm your papa." My gaze was torn away when the door opened. In walked Josh, and behind him was his little sister Anna. Randy and John had adopted her a year after Shawn had passed.

"Look what I found in the lobby." He says as Anna walks past him to look at the baby in my arms.

"Isn't he perfect Uncle Hunter?" she asked as he gives me a hug and leans against my back to look at Shawn. I knew she wanted to hold him, but I just got him, she could wait. Josh went over to Piper and dropped a bag onto her tray.

"Thank you!" she said, digging into the bag and diving into a taco.

"Slow down honey, you're looking like pops when a show is over."

"Shut up." she says, tossing a mild sauce packet at him.

"Speaking of your parents, are they coming?"

"Not till tomorrow, dad is doing something he couldn't get out of and pops wont travel without him now." Josh said as he sat at the foot of Piper's bed and got his food from the bag.

A small noise drew my attention back to the baby in my arms. A smile spread across my face as a small hand wrapped around my finger. But even in my joy I felt sad. Here was another major moment in Piper's life that Shawn wasn't here for. But I knew that he was here. And that one day I would see him again. One day we all would. Someday we would be together again.

* * *

End Note:

As for now, the Piper journey is over. I do have a few more ideas in my head for what I want to do next, but I recently started a "Walking Dead" story that needs some attention. But who knows, I may bring Piper back. I really do love that little girl.

**Thank you all for reading and enjoying!**


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